Study on correlation of sperm quality parameters with antioxidant and oxidant status of buffalo bull semen during various stages of cryopreservation.

This investigation was carried out to study the correlation of sperm quality parameters with antioxidant and oxidant status of buffalo bull semen during various stages of cryopreservation. Semen samples were evaluated for sperm parameters (mass motility [MM], concentration [CON], progressive motility [PM], viability [VIB], acrosomal integrity [AI] and hypo-osmotic swelling [HOS] response), antioxidants (superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase [CAT], glutathione peroxidase [GPx] and total antioxidant capacity [TAC]) and oxidants (Lipid peroxidation [LPO] and reactive oxygen species [ROS]) at fresh, pre-freeze and post-thaw stages. Sperm parameters (PM, VIB, AI and HOS response) and antioxidants (SOD, CAT and TAC) were significantly (p < .05) reduced at fresh stage, and oxidants (LPO and ROS) were significantly (p < .05) increased at pre-freeze and post-thaw stages. At fresh stage, MM was negatively correlated with LPO (p < .05), and CON was positively correlated with SOD, TAC and CAT, negatively correlated with LPO and CAT was positively (p < .01) correlated with VIB and HOS response. At pre-freeze stage, CAT was positively correlated with PM and AI (p < .05), and AI was negatively (p < .05) correlated with ROS. At post-thaw stage, CAT was positively correlated with PM, VIB, HOS response and AI,, and LPO was negatively correlated with HOS, AI and VIB. The study of correlations of these parameters at different preservation stages with bull fertility may play an important role in developing models for predicting future fertility of bulls in the absence of conception rate data.