Impact of Reactive Oxygen Species on Spermatozoa: A Balancing Act between Beneficial and Detrimental Effects

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an important role in sperm motility. The physiological generation at low concentration induces beneficial effects on sperm functions and plays a significant role in sperm me-tabolism. Meanwhile, the excessive generation of reactive oxygen species can overwhelm protective mech-anism and triggers changes in lipid and protein layers of sperm plasma membrane, which induces lipid damage, protein damage, DNA damage, motility impairment and alteration in capacitation and acrosome reaction. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can be measured by variable biomarkers as melondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, individual free radicals, etc. The quantification of free radicals in livestock semen is also briefly reported.