Assessment of Post-Thaw In-Vitro Quality of Male Wistar Rat Spermatozoa Preserved in Diluent with Natural Honey as Supplemen doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v6i1.21

Abstract

There is always the need for extension of the lifespan of biological specimens like sperm cells, stem cells and egg cells for purposes of research and experimentation. However, availability and affordability of standard cell freezing reagents and extenders especially in developing countries has been very challenging. This study therefore investigates the short-term effect of natural honey supplementation on in-vitro sperm quality following freeze – thaw cycles of Wistar rat spermatozoa in preservation diluent with the aim of comparing efficacy of natural honey supplementation with standard cell freezing reagent. Three variations of honey supplemented diluent; – 2.5%, 5% and 10% concentration were compared with a commercially available standard cell freezing reagent, pZerve. Some sperm parameters – sperm count, sperm motility, sperm viability and morphological defects were assessed for one week following four freeze-thawing cycles on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 after one week of freezing. The results revealed that 10% honey supplementation in preservation diluent showed no significant differences when compared to the standard solution with 7 days of freeze-thawing cycles. However, sperm concentration, motility, viability and morphological defects were significantly altered in diluents supplemented with 2.5% and 5% natural honey following successive freeze-thawing cycles. In conclusion, 10% natural honey supplementation in sperm reservation diluent was capable of retaining sperm quality within 7 days following freeze-thawing cycles.