Influence of IGF-I on buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) spermatozoa motility, membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation and fructose uptake in vitro

The objective of the present experiment was to examine the influence of mean physiological concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) on frozen–thawed Surti buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) spermatozoa functional parameters, i.e., motility, plasmalemma integrity, acrosomal integrity, functional membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation and fructose uptake in vitro. Frozen–thawed semen samples (n = 6) were washed in tris buffer and divided into two equal parts (control and IGF-I groups). Only in the IGF-I group, IGF-I (rhIGF-I analogue) was added to a final concentration of 100 ng/ml. The samples were incubated at 37 °C for 2 h and the assessments were made at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min of incubation. The mean concentration of the buffalo seminal plasma (n = 17) IGF-I was 116.83 ± 28.34 ng/ml (range 41.4–198.95). IGF-I had significant effect on the total motility (P < 0.01), progressive forward motility (P < 0.01), functional membrane integrity (P < 0.05) and lipid peroxidation levels (P < 0.05) during the 120-min study period as assessed by area under curve. Treatment with IGF-I increased (P < 0.01) the total spermatozoa motility at 30, 60 and 90 min as compared to the control. The progressive forward motility was significantly (P < 0.01) higher at 60 and 90 min of incubation. The addition of IGF-I resulted in significant (P < 0.01) increase in straight-line velocity (VSL, μm/s) as compared to the control at 60 and 90 min of incubation. The linearity (%) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in IGF-I treated semen as compared to control at 60 min of incubation. Plasmalemma integrity in IGF-I group was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than control at 30 and 60 min of incubation. The functional membrane integrity differed significantly (P < 0.01) between groups (control and IGF-I) at 60 and 90 min of incubation. The percentage of acrosomal intact spermatozoa decreased continuously over a period of time in both the groups. As compared to 0 min of incubation, the significant (P < 0.05) loss of acrosome was observed at 60 and 90 min of incubation in control (63.87 ± 3.17 vs. 58.52 ± 2.54) and IGF-I (61.60 ± 2.26 vs. 56.11 ± 2.12) groups, respectively. Lipid peroxidation levels were significantly lower in IGF-I group at 90 min (P < 0.05) and 120 min (P < 0.01) of incubation than the control group. Fructose utilization was significantly higher in IGF-I group as compared to control at 30 min (P < 0.05) and 60 min (P < 0.01) of incubation. The present study suggests that addition of IGF-I improve spermatozoa functional parameters by reducing lipid peroxidation levels.