Ferroptosis contributes to boar sperm deterioration during liquid semen storage

< 0.05). Erastin produced similar but delayed effects, reaching maximum ferroptotic markers by day 7. Both Ferrostatin-1 and NAC mitigated oxidative injury and preserved motility and cellular integrity relative to inducers. Critically, untreated controls exhibited time-dependent increases in all ferroptosis-associated biomarkers over 7 days of liquid storage, indicating spontaneous ferroptotic activity independent of chemical induction. These findings establish ferroptosis as a mechanistically relevant contributor to sperm.