Vitamin E Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vitamin E, including details on benefits, dosage, supplements, antioxidants.

Combined effect of DHA and alpha-tocopherol enrichment on sperm quality and fertility in the turkey.

Zaniboni L, Rizzi R, Cerolini S

Department of Veterinary Sciences and Technologies for Food Safety (VSA), University of Milan, Via Trentacoste 2, 20134 Milan, Italy. luisa.zaniboni@unimi.it

The aim of the present study was to characterize the dietary effects of n-3 LC-PUFA and alpha-tocopheryl acetate (vE) on the quality, phospholipid fatty acid composition, alpha-tocopherol content (alpha-T) and in vitro susceptibility to lipid peroxidation in turkey semen. Fertility of fresh semen was also evaluated. Male turkeys were randomly divided and fed either a control diet or a fish oil and vE rich diet (FO diet) from 40 to 60 weeks of age. The FO diet increased the proportion of n-3 fatty acids in spermatozoa and as a consequence the (n-3)/(n-6) ratio also increased. These changes did not affect the proportion of n-9 PUFAs, particularly of C22:3n-9, in semen. The sperm content of alpha-T was dependent by the dietary supplementation of the vitamin and the sperm content was more than doubled supplying 120 mg kg(-1) of feed to the males compared to the 60 mg kg(-1) of feed in the control diet. In agreement with the major content of alpha-T in spermatozoa collected from the FO group were significantly less susceptible to in vitro induced oxidation. The reproductive capacity of the male breeders was not affected by the diet; however the result is considered of some relevance for field conditions where even very small changes have economic interest being applied to large bird population.

Published 8 May 2006 in Theriogenology, 65(9): 1813-27.
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