Effects of adding taurine and trehalose to a tris-based egg yolk extender on buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) sperm quality following cryopreservation

Cryopreservation induces sublethal damage to the spermatozoa, which leads to their reduced fertile life. Under the present study, the cryoprotective effect of taurine and trehalose on buffalo sperm quality parameters after freeze–thaw process was studied. Buffalo semen was cryopreserved in tris-based egg yolk extender along with cryoprotectants like taurine (50 mM) or trehalose (100 mM) and used for the assessment of sperm quality parameters like motility, viability, plasma membrane integrity, total antioxidant status and the extent of cryocapacitation. The results were compared to semen cryopreserved in tris-based egg yolk extender only as control. Post-thaw semen evaluation clearly indicated that the addition of taurine or trehalose significantly improved (P < 0.05) the motility, viability and membrane integrity compared to control spermatozoa. The extent of sperm cells underwent cryocapacitation was significantly lowered (P < 0.05) in presence of taurine or trehalose. Moreover, the percentage of in vitro capacitated cells in the treated samples was comparable to the control spermatozoa along with maintaining other sperm quality parameters. Finally, compared to the control and trehalose treated sample, addition of taurine to the freezing extender showed more positive effect on the total antioxidant power of seminal plasma and spermatozoa. It is concluded that the addition of taurine or trehalose to the freezing extender led to the reduction of cryodamage to the buffalo spermatozoa.