The Effects of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid (EDTA) on Post-thawed Rooster Sperm Quality in Modi-fied Beltsville Extender

Background: Semen freezing and thawing procedures not only is associated with serious damage to sperm but also changes the membrane permeability to some ions such as calcium. Calcium plays a substantial role in sperm motility and membrane fusion process during the acrosome reaction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of EDTA as a calcium chelator in semen extender on sperm quality factors after thawing.Materials and Methods: Semen samples were collected from eight mature roosters (Ross 308). After initial semen assessments, samples with adequate quality were mixed together and diluted with modified Beltsville extender without EDTA (control) and supplemented with 1, 2, and 3 μM EDTA. After thawing, sperm viability and motility were measured by Eosin-Nigrosine and Computer-Aided Sperm Analysis (CASA), respectively. The data were analyzed by the GLM procedure of SAS 9.1.Results: The results of this study showed that the level of 2μM EDTA (53%) significantly increased sperm motility in com-pared with control (45.5%) and other levels of EDTA (P< 0.05). But the other levels of EDTA had no significant effect on sperm motility in compared with control. Using 2μM EDTA (55.5%) significantly increased sperm viability compared to the control group (50.25%) and 3μM EDTA (51%) (P<0.05). Using EDTA at 1 μM, 2 μM, and 3 μM significantly increased sperm pro-gressive motility (27.5%, 30.75%, and 25.5%, respectively; (P< 0.05)) compared to the control (20.75%).Conclusion: Results of this study revealed that addition of 2μM EDTA to the extender for freezing of rooster semen can im-prove significantly the function of rooster sperm after freezing-thawing process.

Keywords:

Rooster , EDTA , Sperm motility , Freezing