Influence of Zinc and Manganese Nanoparticles on Selected Parameters of Turkey Spermatozoa Stored in a Liquid State at 4 °C

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Nanoparticles (NPs) are not widely used in semen preservation procedures due to their potential toxicity as well as limited knowledge regarding safe NP doses. Turkey sperm loses its fertilizing potential when it is stored for more than several hours. Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of interest in novel procedures for improving the storage of turkey semen. The addition of zinc to the extender may improve progressive sperm motility, viability, membrane integrity and DNA stability. The viability, membrane integrity, motility and osmotic balance of sperm can also be enhanced through the addition of manganese, which exerts antioxidant effects. Despite the fact that the influence of NPs on sperm is not fully understood, their biological effects can be harnessed to enhance the quality of sperm cells during semen preservation. ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of semen extender supplementation with 25 or 50 μM of zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs) or manganese nanoparticles (MnNPs) on turkey spermatozoa preserved in a liquid state. Twenty turkey ejaculates were obtained from twenty healthy males. The collected semen was preserved at 4 °C for 48 h with or without NPs. Selected qualitative and quantitative parameters of sperm (motility, plasma membrane activity, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and the percentage of sperm demonstrating NO and SOD activity) were examined after 2, 24 and 48 h of storage. Sperm motility and MMP decreased in semen preserved with ZnNPs at each time point of the analysis. However, all spermatozoa remained viable throughout storage. In contrast, membrane integrity and mitochondria activity (p ≤ 0.05) increased, and the highest SOD activity (p ≤ 0.05) was observed in semen preserved with MnNPs. The addition of MnNPs to the semen extender could potentially improve the parameters of turkey semen during prolonged storage.