Effetto della somministrazione di diete arricchite in DHA e vitamina E sul contenuto in acidi grassi e sulla qualità del seme nella specie cunicola.

The effect of supplementing the feed with Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) and/or vitamin E to bucks was studied on semen quality and biochemical parameters. 52 rabbits were allocated to 4 groups fed diets as follows: A: control; B: A+200mg/kg Vit.E; C: A+1.5% fish oil (FO); D: A+1.5% FO+200mg/kg Vit.E. Semen was analysed at various time-points: volume, concentration, motility, viability were recorded. The spermatozoa lipids were separated in their various classes: phospholipids (PL), free cholesterol (Chol), free fatty acids and triacylglycerols; the fatty acid profile of these classes was determined. PL was the main lipid class present in spermatozoa, followed by Chol. PL displayed a high content of 22:5n-6 (~32% of total fatty acids) and low content of 22:6n-3 (0.7%) in groups A and B. The proportion of DHA in groups C and D increased by 7-fold (5% against 0.7 %) compared with A and B. This was followed by a decrease of 22:5n-6. An unexpected negative effect of alfa-tocopherol feeding on the content of sperm PUFAs was found. More work is required to understand the role of specific long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on rabbit sperm functions.