CRYOBIOLOGY, cilt.68, sa.1, ss.129-133, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Supplementation of the semen extender with antioxidants did not produce any significant effect on CASA and progressive motilities and sperm motility characteristics, in comparison to the control group (P > 0.05). For sperm acrosome and total abnormalities, TCM-199 supplemented with cysteine (2.60 +/- 0.24% and 4.80 +/- 0.20%), glutamine (2.80 +/- 0.20% and 6.40 +/- 0.40%), carnitine (2.60 +/- 0.24% and 6.00 +/- 0.63%) and methionine (3.40 +/- 0.51% and 9.20 +/- 0.86%) at doses of 2 mM provided a better protective effect, compared to that of the controls (8.00 +/- 0.44 and 15.60 +/- 1.895). As regards sperm membrane integrity, supplementation with 2 mM of glutamine and methionine (56.00 +/- 1.70% and 62.40 +/- 1.78%, respectively) resulted in higher rates, when compared to the control group (41.40 +/- 4.74%). According to the results of the COMET assay, only the use of TCM-199 supplemented with 2 mM of cysteine reduced DNA damage and resulted in percentages of sperm with damaged DNA (2.17 +/- 0.18%) lower than those of the control group (3.16 +/- 0.32%) (P < 0.001). For pregnancy rates, there were no significant differences among the extender groups (P > 0.05). Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved