Preliminary results on ascorbic acid and lysine suppression of clastogenic effect of deep-frozen sperm of the Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedti)

One of the hypotheses of cell damage after cryopreservation is the deleterious effects of oxygen free radicals generated during freezing and thawing. This study investigated the clastogenic effect of Russian sturgeon oocytes after fertilization by defrosted sperm cryopreserved with 15% DMSO with addition of ascorbic acid and amino acid lysine as potential antioxidants. Sperm of the Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedti) was cryopreserved in solutions containing either 15% DMSO or 15% DMSO with 0.1M ascorbic acid or 0.5M lysine. Results indicated that addition of ascorbic acid to the cryoprotective medium increased motility and fertilizating ability of the sperm and decreased level of chromosome aberrations in the embryos obtained after fertilization with cryopreserved sperm.