Relationship of Lipid Factors in Blood Serum and Seminal Plasma of Afshari Rams

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of lipid factors of seminal plasma and blood serum in Afshari rams. Four Afshari rams were selected with a mean weight of 50 ± 5 kg and the mean age of 2.5 years. At the same time, blood and semen samples were collected to evaluate total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), while beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) was measured only in blood samples. After adding semen to the extender, sperm motility, morphology and viability were evaluated by the CASA software, Papanicolaou and Eosin-Nigrosin staining, respectively. The sperm parameters of seasonal and non-seasonal breeding were assessed in pre-freezing and post-thawing. The results of this study showed that cholesterol and HDL levels of ram were significantly higher in seasonal breeding than non-seasonal breeding in both blood and semen samples (P 0.05). In non-seasonal breeding, LDL and triglyceride levels of blood and semen samples were significantly increased respectively (P 0.05). In seasonal breeding, the sperm parameters such as motility, morphology, and viability of rams were significantly higher in pre-freezing. In non-seasonal breeding, total motility was higher significant in post-thawing (P 0.05). Consequently, in the current study, there was a significant correlation between triglyceride of blood and triglyceride of seminal plasma. Also, there was a significant correlation between blood LDL and seminal LDL/HDL ratios for non-seasonal records. Blood LDL/HDL was also significantly correlated with the seminal cholesterol/HDL, which could improve the sperm quality parameters of Afshari ram in the season and non-seasonal breeding.