Lipid peroxidation in bovine semen.

Bovine whole semen, spermatozoa, and seminal plasma did not undergo lipid peroxidation when aerobically incubated. However, lipid peroxidation was induced in washed spermatozoa in the presence of iron or iron plus sodium ascorbate, whereas heating, sonication, or treatment with proteolytic enzymes did not have any effect. The time required for formation of optimum concentration of lipid peroxides in washed spermatozoa is very short as compared to other systems. Lipid peroxides are entirely contributed by the lipid fraction of spermatozoa. Formation of lipid peroxides is completely inhibited by the presence of seminal plasma in incubation mixture.