The Effect of L-Carnitine, Hypotaurine, and Taurine Supplementation on the Quality of Cryopreserved Chicken Semen

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of L-carnitine (LC), hypotaurine (HT), and taurine (T) on the quality of frozen-thawed chicken semen. Pooled semen samples were divided into seven aliquots (control, 1 mM LC, 5 mM LC, 1 mM HT, 10 mM HT, 1 mM T, and 10 mM T) and subjected to cryopreservation. Postthaw sperm motility was determined by IVOS system and sperm characteristics were assessed with fluorochromes and flow cytometry. The highest sperm motility and the highest percentage of viable sperm were in the HT1 group (P<0.01 and P<0.05) following cryopreservation. After thawing, we observed a higher percentage of sperm without apoptosis and membrane reorganization changes in the LC1 and T1 group when compared to the control (P<0.05). There was a higher percentage of live sperm without lipid peroxidation (LPO) in all treatments (P<0.01; P<0.05), when compared to the control group. The percentage of sperm with high mitochondrial potential significantly increased with LC1, T1, and T10 (P<0.05). Supplementation of the diluent with LC1, LC5, and T1 significantly (P<0.05) reduced DNA susceptibility to fragmentation, compared to the control and HT1 groups. These results indicate that the addition of examined antioxidants improves the quality of cryopreserved chicken semen.