Bacterial killing activity and lysozymes: A stable defence mechanism in stallion seminal plasma?

During insemination, bacterial contamination of the ejaculate can lead to reduced sperm quality and transmission of pathogens to the female, thus should be avoided. The semen of a variety of animal taxa possess antimicrobial properties against a wide range of bacterial species through antimicrobial...

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Published in:Reproduction in domestic animals 2023-01, Vol.58 (1), p.73-80
Main Authors: Jakop, Ulrike, Hensel, Britta, Czirják, Gábor. Á., Quirino, Monike, Schröter, Filip, Jung, Markus, Schulze, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Apoptosis
Bacteria
bacterial killing activity
Contamination
Correlation
E coli
Escherichia coli
Female
Horses
Livestock
Lysozyme
Male
Muramidase
reproductive male immunology
Semen
Semen Preservation - veterinary
Seminal fluid
Sperm
Sperm Motility
sperm quality
Spermatozoa
stallion semen
Staphylococcus aureus
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Summary:During insemination, bacterial contamination of the ejaculate can lead to reduced sperm quality and transmission of pathogens to the female, thus should be avoided. The semen of a variety of animal taxa possess antimicrobial properties against a wide range of bacterial species through antimicrobial molecules, such as lysozyme, but their variance and the factors influencing it are unknown for most species. In this study, the antibacterial defence (bacterial killing activity (BKA) against Escherichia (E.) coli and Staphylococcus (S.) aureus as well as lysozyme concentration) was studied in seminal fluid from two consecutive ejaculates of 18 stallions. All ejaculates showed BKA against the tested bacteria, which correlated between the two consecutive ejaculates (rS = 0.526, p = .025 for E. coli and rS = 0.656, p = .003 for S. aureus) and appeared to be stable over the tested period. The lysozyme concentration (LC) showed no significant correlation between the consecutive ejaculates (rS = 0.161, p = .681). However, LC had a positive correlation to the ratio of apoptotic spermatozoa within the ejaculates (rS = 0.426, p = .019). In contrast to other livestock (e.g., boar, bull), the BKA in stallion semen did not correlate significantly with the age of the animal nor sperm quality characteristics.
ISSN:0936-6768
1439-0531
DOI:10.1111/rda.14260