Background: Increasingly, sheep breeders are using artificial insemination to produce lambs, so finding methods that preserve ram sperm can be useful.
Objective: To determine the protective effects of different concentrations of laminarin on ram sperm motility, viability, abnormalities, membrane, and DNA integrity, superoxide dismutase enzyme (SOD) activity, and malondialdehyde (MDA) production after freeze-thawing.
Materials and methods: The ejaculates of four rams were collected and stored at 35 degree C. Semen samples were diluted with a tris-base extender containing 100, 200, 400, and 800 ug/mL of laminarin and a control extender containing no laminarin, then frozen in liquid nitrogen after 4 h in the refrigerator.
Results: In the treatment of frozen-thawed spermatozoa with 800 ug/mL laminarin, motility, viability, membrane integrity, and DNA integrity were significantly higher than in the control. In spermatozoa that were exposed to 800 ug/mL laminarin after thawing, MDA production was significantly lower than in the control group. The percentage of abnormal spermatozoa in 800 ug/mL laminarin was significantly lower than that in the control.
Conclusion: The addition of 800 ug/mL laminarin to the freezing extender increases motility, viability, SOD activity, and plasma membrane integrity, while reducing abnormality and MDA production in freeze-thawed ram semen. https://doi.org/10.54680/fr24110110812.