Effect of Hericium erinaceus polysaccharides on the cryopreservation of bull semen.

Abstract

Background: The field of sperm cryopreservation requires the search for and development of new effective cryopreservatives with low toxicity.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of bull spermatozoa subjected to freezing and storage at -80 degree C for 28 days in a diluent with the addition of Hericium erinaceus polysaccharides.

Materials and methods: The sperm was frozen under the protection of a complex cryoprotectant and stored in an electric freezer at -80 degree C for 28 days. Before cooling and after defrosting, the biological parameters of the sperm were analyzed using the Argus-CASA system.

Results: It was established that two fractions isolated from H. erinaceus (PF1, PF2) are heteropolysaccharide peptides with a high content of glucose, xylose, mannose, galactose and arabinose. It was shown that before cooling, when a fraction obtained from dry fruiting bodies of H. erinaceus (PF2) was added to the sperm, the number of progressively motile sperm with intact DNA decreased, but their kinematic parameters did not change. After thawing, after 28 days of storage at -80 degree C, an increase in the number of progressively motile sperm with intact DNA and their kinematic parameters was observed.

Conclusion: Thus, fungal polysaccharides are obviously underestimated macromolecular substances with enormous cryostabilization potential, and polysaccharide fractions from dried fruiting bodies of H. erinaceus may in the future find wide application in the composition of new cryopreservation media. https://doi.org/10.54680/fr25210110912.