Effect of albumin and casein supplementation on the common carp Cyprinus carpio L. sperm motility parameters measured by CASA

Abstract

Adhesion of sperm to a glass surface can be manifested by the low percentage of motile spermatozoa and lower speed. This crucial factor could disprove the sperm quality prediction from computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) results. In our study, this was particularly observed when solution L was used. However, protein supplementation was effective in the reduction in sperm adhesion. We found that albumin increased the sperm motility at concentrations of 0.25 % in solution L and 0.5 % in solution P. Casein was effective in both solutions at 0.25 % concentration. However, in solution L, the motility was lower than that measured in solutions P and L with the supplementation of BSA at 0.25 and 0.5 %. BSA supplementation was especially beneficial in terms of higher speed values regardless of an activation solution. Casein used with solution P allows us to obtain similar results as in the samples activated with BSA supplementation. Casein supplementation to solution L did not increase CASA results to the level observed in the samples activated with BSA added to the solution L. Our data suggest that the selection of an activation solution is one of the most crucial steps in the experiments requiring CASA data. Depending on the composition, different protein supplements should be used to reduce adhesion of sperm to a glass surface. We recommend the use of BSA at the 0.5–1 % concentration because at this level we obtained the highest CASA parameters in both activation media.