Protective Action of Microvesicules on Rat Spermatozoa In Vitro

After prolonged storage and cryopreservation, animal spermatozoa show reduced activity and fertilizing ability. Natural microvesicles are known to improve these parameters. According to our data, co-incubation of rat spermatozoa with artificial microvesicles obtained from mesenchymal stem cells using cytochalasin B exerts a positive effect on these sex cells. Incubation of microvesicles with spermatozoa causes a slower decrease in the transmembrane potential of mitochondria and reduced accumulation of lipid peroxidation products compared to the control group. As a result of such incubation, the DNA of the sex cells does not become damaged and almost no fusion of microvesicle and sperm cell membranes is observed. Thus, the presence of artificial microvesicles may improve the quality of rat sperm during storage.