The study aimed to evaluate if the sperm telomere length can be considered as a new biomarker for sperm quality in bulls. Sperm Telomere Length was evaluated by Monochrome Multiplex Quantitative PCR in group A (n = 8) and group B (n = 8) bulls, classified according to standard semen analysis. Also, this parameter was measured before and after Percoll gradient separation within bulls that produced semen of satisfactory quality. Sperm telomere length, measured as T/S ratio (average ratio of telomere repeats copy number to a single copy gene), was higher in group A than in group B bulls (0.77 ± 0.03 vs 0.43 ± 0.06; P < 0.01). Sperm telomere length was positively correlated with motility, viability and membrane integrity, and it was negatively correlated with sperm anomalies. Furthermore, Percoll gradient selected sperms with higher T/S ratio than unselected sperms (1.19 ± 0.02 vs 0.67 ± 0.03). These results suggest that sperm telomere length can be used as a new marker of bovine semen quality.

中文翻译：

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牛精子端粒长度的评估及其与精液质量的关系

该研究旨在评估精子端粒长度是否可以被视为公牛精子质量的新生物标志物。精子端粒长度通过单色多重定量 PCR 在 A 组 (n = 8) 和 B 组 (n = 8) 公牛中进行评估，根据标准精液分析进行分类。此外，该参数是在公牛内 Percoll 梯度分离之前和之后测量的，这些公牛产生了质量令人满意的精液。精子端粒长度，以 T/S 比（端粒重复拷贝数与单个拷贝基因的平均比率）衡量，A 组公牛高于 B 组公牛（0.77 ± 0.03 对 0.43 ± 0.06；P < 0.01）。精子端粒长度与活力、活力和膜完整性呈正相关，与精子异常呈负相关。此外，Percoll 梯度选择的精子的 T/S 比高于未选择的精子 (1.19 ± 0.02 vs 0.67 ± 0.03)。这些结果表明精子端粒长度可以作为牛精液质量的新标志物。