Effects of lipid peroxide formation in fowl semen on sperm motility, ATP content and fertilizing ability

Abstract

The ability of samples of semen from individual male fowl to form the products of lipid peroxidation during 5 h aerobic incubation at 40.degree. C varied between 0 and 8 nmol malonaldehyde/109 spermatozoa. Formation of higher concentrations of malonaldehyde was associated with a partial or complete loss of fertilizing ability while the fertilizing ability of samples producing low or negligible concentrations of malonaldehyde remained unimpaired. The semen of birds, which showed a tendency to form high concentrations of malonaldehyde, was not readily identifiable as abnormal by assessment of sperm motility, morphology or ATP content. Nor was the loss of fertilizing ability during aerobic incubation associated with an obvious change in these characteristics. [Since there is current interest in the aeration of poultry semen during storage, whether incubated fowl semen would produce lipid peroxides, and the effect of any formed peroxides on the viability and fertilizing ability of fowl spermatozoa were investigated.].