EFFECT OF DIET SUPPLEMENTATION WITH LEPIDIUM MEYENII ON STALLION FERTILITY: PRELIMINARY REPORT

Different studies on dietary intake of antioxidants are reported in human and showed the improvement of semen quality not only in hypofertile patient but also in healthy men. The reason behind the usage of antioxidant supplements in the treatment of male infertility lies in the fact that the spermatozoa are very much susceptible to oxidative stress-induced damage.(1) The effect of dietary supplementation with nutriceuticals plants is receiving increasing attention in the scientific community but little or no data are available on the potential influence on sperm quality in horses. In others mammals, feeding of maca (Lepydium Meyenii) has been demonstrated to positively affect sperm production and quality. (2) In the present study, we investigated the effects of adding maca to the diet of breeding stallions on the motility and acrosome integrity of semen. Starting in May 2014 the diet of two stallions (1 fertile and 1 hypofertile) but not of two-control stallions (1 fertile and 1 hypofertile) was supplemented with maca (20 g/day) for a total of 60 days. Ejaculates were collected every fifteen days (day 0; 15; 30; 45 and 60). Collected semen were processed for cooling at 5ÂC and stored for 72h. Cooled semen was sent to the laboratory for semen analysis of total motility, progressive motility, acrosome integrity at 0 (T0), 24 (T1), 48 (T2) and 72 hours (T3) after the collection. Fluorescent-labeled peanut lectin agglutinin (PNA-FITC conjugated staining) was employed to evaluate acrosome integrity. The percentage of total and progressive motility resulted 80-60%and 50-10% at T0 of the day0 (fertile and hypofertile respectively) and 85-80% and 80-65% at T0 of the day60, respectively in fertile and hypofertile treated stallions. Data from acrosomal status of treated stallions (hypofertile and fertile respectively) showed that the percentage of cells with reacted acrosome to T0 day0 was 18-10% and at T0 day60 was 5-4%. This study was preliminary performed in order to standardize the protocol. The low animals number tested not allow a comparative analysis of the results. Nevertheless, we performed a mathematical time stack series data analysis as a preliminary data evaluation. However, the increase of number of animals tested it is necessary to conferme the efficiency of our treatment with a statistical method. Furthermore, the treatment with maca could improve the percentages of motility not only in hypofertile but also in fertile stallion. The preliminary results are very interesting and the hypothesis is very much worth investigating, as a maca-supplemented diet might be very useful in many cases in equine practice. In conclusion, if the nutrition requirement of maca could increase the ability of spermatozoa to contrast reactive oxygen species, we can optimize the fertility of cooled-shipped semen only with dietary supplementation. (1) Ghanem H, Shamloul R., An evidence-Based perspective to the medical Treatment of male infertility: a short review, Urologia (2) Clà´lment C, Withschi U, Kreuzer M, The potential influence of plant-based feed supplements on sperm quantity and quality in livestock: A review, ARS 132(2012) 1-10