Improvement of Chilling Spermatozoa Characteristics Andtheir Fertility by Supplementation of L-Arginine to Ram Semen Extender

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of L-arginine addition to ram semen on its short-term storability. Three healthy Rahmani rams were used for semen collection. Collected semen samples were diluted and divided into five equal aliquot treatments as T0, T1, T2, T3 and T4 including 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0- and 4.0-mM of L-arginine, respectively. All treatments were kept in refrigerator up to1 to 5 days. The sperm motility, viability, abnormal sperm, acrosome integrity, lipid peroxidation (LPO) level and fertility rate were evaluated. T4 group showed decreased (P<0.05) results in sperm motility, viability and acrosome integrity and also increased (P < 0.05) results in abnormal sperm and LPO level compared with T0, T1, T2 and T3. The highest (P<0.05) sperm motility, viability and acrosome integrity and the lowest (P<0.05) abnormal sperm and LPO levels were observed in T1 compared with T0, T2 and T3. Fertility rate was better with T1 thanT0. It is assumed that 0.5 mM addition of L-arginine to ram semen may be useful, and increasing doses may be harmful to sperm characteristics during short-term storage.