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Computer assisted semen analysis was employed to find out whether there are some changes in movement parameters between autumn-winter and spring-summer time. 473 sperm specimens obtained from 12 sperm donors were analyzed. Statistically significant percentage of motile spermatozoa was higher during spring-summer time.
An increase in motility of ejaculated human spermatozoa was observed after the addition of acetylcaritine or carnitine. Similar results were also obtained in the diluted semen with 25--30% initial motilities. However, indirect evidence suggests that carnitine is converted to acetylcarnitine prior to its stimulatory action. In addition, this stimulation was shown to be the result of no increase in ionic strength nor any change in the levels of ATP.
Epididymis (ES) inhibits the total activities of spermatozoa (SA) in male reproductive tract. It keeps SA motionless throughout the length of system by its inhibitory factors (IFs), which are nullified by the secretary products of other glands after formation of semen externally.
A high molecular mass dynein ATPase polypeptide and a 18-20 kDa dynein light chain of Ciona sperm flagella are phosphorylated during in vivo activation of motility or in vitro activation of motility by incubation with cyclic AMP. A similar level of phosphorylation of these proteins is obtained by incubation of washed, demembranated spermatozoa with catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, under conditions where there is no activation of motility until a supernatant component is added. Therefore, phosphorylation of these dynein polypeptides is not sufficient for activation of motility. Activation of motility in vitro by incubation with cyclic AMP can be completely inhibited by a random copolymer of glutamate and tyrosine that inhibits tyrosine kinase activity. Under these conditions, much of the protein phosphorylation associated with activation of motility is also inhibited. These new results suggest that regulation of motility of these spermatozoa may involve a multicomponent kinase cascade rather than a simple phosphorylation of a protein 'switch' by the cyclic AMP-dependent kinase. A 53 kDa axonemal phosphoprotein band, identified as band M1, shows the strongest correlation with activation of motility in these experiments.
Fluid was collected from the region of the peritoneum surrounding the ovarian pocket of domestic hens at about the time of ovulation. This fluid, diluted to 10%, increased the motility of chicken spermatozoa by a maximum of sixfold at 40 degrees C in vitro. Gel filtration revealed two peaks of motility-stimulating activity: one was identified as calcium and the other as a heat-labile substance of low M(r) (200). It is suggested that this motility-stimulating activity may facilitate fertilization, as spermatozoa are normally stored in a quiescent state within the oviduct and can be passively transported by cilia to the site of fertilization in the ovarian pocket.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect on the function on human sperm of overnight incubation with mycoplasma species. DESIGN: Prospective controlled in vitro study. SETTING: Community-based sperm bank and andrology laboratory. INTERVENTIONS: Percoll-separated sperm were incubated overnight with a low densities of Myco-plasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum serotypes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Motility, midpiece and tail morphology, hyperactivation after overnight capacitation, and acrosome status after incubation with calcium ionophore. RESULTS: Overnight incubation with mycoplasma species resulted in small but highly statistically significant differences in motility, morphology, hyperactivation after overnight capacitation, and proportion acrosome reacted after incubation with calcium ionophore compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Incubation with mycoplasma species impairs sperm physiology. Identification and treatment of mycoplasma may augment a physiology-based infertility evaluation.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of a short (4 days) or a long (14 days) abstinence period on sperm retrieval by extended sperm preparation in patients with nonobstructive azoospermia scheduled for testicular biopsy and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). DESIGN: A prospective case control study. SETTING: Male infertility clinic in a university hospital. PATIENT(S): Fifty male patients with nonobstructive azoospermia, scheduled for testicular biopsy for ICSI. INTERVENTION(S): Diagnosis of nonobstructive azoospermia and a thorough microscopic search for sperm cells (extended sperm preparation). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The number of sperm cells collected, sperm motility, and total motile sperm count after short and long abstinence periods. RESULT(S): There was a significant difference between long and short abstinence with an increase in sperm count (log-to-log transformed analysis of variance P<.025) and total motile sperm (P<.025 analysis of variance, P<.02 paired Student's t-test) in the former group, but no significant change in sperm motility (Wilcoxon and paired Student's t-test). In 18 patients, sperm concentration and sperm motility were similar in a second collection, done after the same abstinence period, compared with the same parameters in the first sample. When at least 10 motile sperm were defined as the cutoff number, allowing ICSI without testicular biopsy, no significant differences were found between the two abstinence periods. No clinical or laboratory male characteristic could predict the detection of 10 motile sperm by extended sperm preparation either after a short or a long abstinence period. CONCLUSION(S): Sperm count and total motile sperm were increased after a long abstinence period, with no change in sperm motility. No additional advantages were conferred by long abstinence as opposed to short abstinence when 10 motile sperm were defined as the cutoff number for ICSI. The recommended period of abstinence for extended sperm preparation and ICSI, whether short or long, should be individualized for each patient.
The objective of this study was to optimize the use of testicular biopsies in 14 patients with obstructive azoospermia. Testicular specimens were retrieved from six patients (group I) and cultured at 32 and 37 degrees C for up to 20 days; changes in percentage motile spermatozoa were compared. In four men of group I, one portion of the specimen was frozen at retrieval, and changes in post-thaw motility after 24 h of culture at 37 degrees C were recorded. In the other eight patients (group II), testicular specimens were frozen at retrieval and after 72 h culture at 37 degrees C. Pre and post-freezing motility and post-thaw recovery rate were compared. No significant differences were observed until day 8 in the improvement of motility between 32 and 37 degrees C in-vitro culture. Maximum motility was reached, under both conditions, between 48 h and 72 h. Post-thaw 24 h culture at 37 degrees C of specimens frozen at retrieval did not improve motility; however, 72 h pre-freezing culture significantly improved initial motility (P: < 0.01), post-thaw motility (P: < 0.01) and post-thaw recovery rate (P: < 0. 001). The higher recovery rate of samples frozen 3 days after retrieval allows more economical use of the tissue that is available.
An infant with multiple physical abnormalities, failure to thrive, and mental deficiency, all probably due to a 22/11 chromosomal translocation is described, and the implications of inducing pregnancies in childless couples are discussed.
Surgical ablation of the inferior mesenteric plexus in the rat results in an excessive accumulation of sperm within the cauda epididymidis. The present study examined the effect of ablation of the inferior mesenteric plexus on the motility of cauda epididymal spermatozoa. One to 8 weeks after ablation of the inferior mesenteric plexus, sperm curvilinear and straight line swimming velocities were reduced significantly compared with sperm curvilinear and straight line swimming velocities from sham-operated controls. Sperm swimming linearity also changed significantly versus controls after inferior mesenteric plexus ablation. Additional experiments using a vasectomy model suggested that the reductions in sperm curvilinear and straight swimming velocities after inferior mesenteric plexus ablation were not primarily the result of tubal obstruction. These data suggest that the sympathetic nervous system may influence epididymal sperm function.
The effect of a commercial deproteinized blood extract--on motility of human spermatozoa was examined in vitro. The improvement of motility as seen after addition of 5 and 10 percent of this deproteinized blood extract, is supposed to be due to amounts containing different concentrations of LH. The extract was ruled out as a source of kallikrein, but not as a source of kininogens.
A seminal plasma factor and aprotinin are capable of inhibiting the movement of demembranated reactivated rabbit spermatozoa. These inhibitors can be overcome by the addition of ATP. This reversibility could be explained by a common binding receptor for the inhibitors and MgATP. The respective affinities for the receptor are dependent on whether the microtubules are sliding or resting.
Tyrode fluid and Tyrode fluid plus Pentoxifylline were individually added to aliquots of semen samples obtained from 6 normal men and 6 infertile patients considered to have idiopathic normogonadotropic oligoasthenozoospermia. Pentoxifylline was added to final concentrations of 0.15, 0.30 and 0.60 mM. One aliquot with no addition served as control. Samples were incubated in 37 degrees C and observed by light microscopy at 30 minutes and at 1, 2 and 4 hours after obtaining the material. At observation time, semen quality was evaluated by determining the percentages of forwardly progressive spermatozoa, slowly progressive spermatozoa, "in situ" motile spermatozoa, live and non-motile spermatozoa and dead spermatozoa. Results reported included only the first and last category. Tyrode fluid did not affect significantly the motility and the duration of activity of spermatozoa. Ejaculated human spermatozoa both from normal and asthenozoospermic men added the Pentoxifylline at 0.30 and 0.60 mM showed a longer lasting activity than those of control semen and semen added only with Tyrode fluid.
The dipteran Monarthropalpus flavus possesses a peculiar sperm axoneme, characterized by multiple rows of microtubular doublets linked by the outer dynein arms only, lacking any equivalent of the central pair/radial spoke complex. The structure of these dynein molecules was studied by electron microscopy (EM). Using the quick-freeze, deep-etch method of EM, they were found to be similar to outer dynein arms described previously. Two globular "heads," each subdivided by a cleft, are clearly discernible. "Stalks" extend from proximal head to contact the B-tubule of the adjacent doublet. Unlike the situation in vertebrate sperm, the stalks sometimes branch into two thinner strands that contact the B-tubule at different sites. Treatment of demembranated sperm cells with ATP and vanadate induces conformational changes in the dynein outer arms. These are interpreted as the result of rotation of the dynein head with respect to what is observed in axonemes in rigor condition (after ATP depletion). SDS-PAGE indicates that the high-molecular-weight complement of this molecule comprises a single heavy chain. Specific dynein heavy chain-related DNA sequences corresponding to the catalytic-phosphate binding region were amplified by RT-PCR. Only one axonemal dynein sequence was identified among all amplified fragments. Southern blot analysis performed on genomic DNA using this sequence as a probe identified two hybridizing genes, only one of which is able to encode a functional product. Thus, genetic analysis indicates that this axonemal outer arm dynein is a homodymer of a single heavy chain subunit. In vivo, spermatozoa of this species are stored in a rolled configuration in female spermatheca, where they move rapidly with a wave-like motion. This movement could not be reproduced in vitro, except when spermatozoa were constrained in a bent configuration by some mechanical impediment. We propose that, in the absence of both the central pair/radial spoke complex and the inner arms, a curvature-dependent activation acts to trigger motility in these spermatozoa.
The fully automatic method for reconstruction of spermatozoa trajectories was presented. The method is based on computer image analysis. It allow to process pure semen without any treatment like diluting or purifying. Since no human interacting is available, this method lead to objective results. The method was used to analyse semen taken from healthy men (WHO 92 standard). The result shows absence of different populations in single sample.
Prostaglandin E2 and F2 alpha were measured in ejaculates from 10 fertile and 55 infertile men. Prostaglandin F2 alpha was negatively correlated with motility (r = 0.77; p less than 0.01) in normal men. In patients with disturbed fertility, prostaglandin F2 alpha was always higher than in the controls, while prostaglandin E2 was elevated only in patients with persisting varicocele and in those with very low sperm counts and severely impaired motility. There was neither de novo synthesis of prostaglandins in spermatozoa nor were binding sites for prostaglandin E2 and F2 alpha detectable. Inactivation of seminal prostaglandins by incubation with prostaglandin 15-hydroxydehydrogenase resulted in a dramatic fall in motility. The results suggest that prostaglandin F2 alpha act on motility, but the action is not mediated by receptors.
The CellSoft system was employed to study its reliability in the evaluation of seminal data in fertile and infertile subjects. In addition new motility data were introduced and added to the classic parameters. Various clinical and experimental applications are reported. The system is valid and extremely useful in seminal research. In order to obtain the above mentioned benefits it is necessary for the users to have extensive experience of seminology and computer technology.
The concentration of josamycin was determined in the split ejaculate of 5 volunteers after oral administration for several days. One aim of this investigation was to examine the penetration of the macrolide antibiotic into the prostate and the seminal vesicles. 2.23 +/- 1.8 micrograms/ml josamycin was found in fraction I of the ejaculate, consisting mostly of prostatic secretion, and 1.56 +/- 1.37 micrograms/ml josamycin in fraction II comprising mainly secretions from the seminal vesicles. The concentrations of josamycin found in both fractions of the ejaculate are clearly comparable with serum levels of the antibiotic. Josamycin thus attains concentrations in the prostate and seminal vesicles which are effective against Mycoplasma and Chlamydia, pathogens of increasing importance in infections of the urogenital tract. In vitro studies on samples from 30 andrological patients showed that josamycin (0.5 micrograms/ml) did not impair, but even increased the motility of spermatozoa (p less than or equal to 0.01). On the basis of these results josamycin is recommended for the treatment of andrological patients. In particular, the specific antibacterial spectrum also indicates the use of this antibiotic for treatment of the partner when children are desired. The usual precautionary measures for pregnancy must then be adhered to.