LAUSR

The aim of the work was compare the concentration the of toxic and essential elements in the sperm plasma and blood serum of stallions. Sperm plasma and serum were collected from 39 Arabian stallions, aged 5 to 15 years. Concentration of toxic elements [aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), tin (Sn), mercury (Hg)] and essential elements (boron (B), lithium (Li), nickel (Ni), strontium (Sr) and vanadium (V)) in the sperm plasma and serum were determined by atomic emission and mass spectrometry (AES-ICP and MS-ICP) using an mass spectrometer Elan 9000 (Perkin Elmer, USA) and an atomic emission spectrometer Optima 2000V (Perkin Elmer, USA). It is established that the concentration of toxic and essential elements in the sperm plasma is higher than in serum. The greatest difference between the average concentrations of elements in the sperm plasma and serum was set for Sr - 252.9 times, Hg - 85.1 times and Al - 20.7 times. The minimum difference between the average concentrations in the sperm plasma and serum was set for B - 0.3 times, Li - 1.1 times and As - 1.8 times. For the remaining elements, the difference between the averages was in the range 2.7 - 8.5 times. It can be assumed that a greater amount of toxic and essential elements accumulate in the accessory gonads and enter the sperm during ejaculation. Authors acknowledge financial support from Russian Science Foundation, Grant No: 17-16-01109, development program of Bioresource collections “Cryobank of genetic recourses the All-Russian Research Institute for Horse Breeding.”