Hyperactivated motility of sperm from fertile donors and asthenozoospermic patients before and after treatment with ionophore

Abstract

Hyperactivated motility of capacitated sperm was studied before and after contact for 30 min with the Ca2+ ionophore A23187. Sperm from fertile donors and asthenozoospermic infertile patients were incubated in the presence of increasing concentrations of A23187 in the medium. At 5-10 microM, the ionophore induced a significant increase (P less than 0.05) in the percentage of hyperactivation of sperm from asthenozoospermic subjects. Higher concentrations (20 and 30 microM) were needed to enhance hyperactivation of sperm in the fertile population. In the latter, extended contact with the ionophore induced no significant change compared to a 30-min incubation period. Since this type of movement is an essential feature of the fertilizing gamete, a low hyperactivation rate may partly explain fertilization failure in the asthenozoospermic group.

Prediction of Human Sperm Fertilizing Ability by the Hyperactivated Motility Patterns

“…Moreover, a significantly higher incidence of "poor" FR could be predicted in patients belonging to "Non-HA" cycles (Table 2). These results support the conclusions of some previous studies [10][11][12][13][14].…”

“…CASA has also been used for the kinematic analysis of capacitating sperm populations to identify the proportion exhibiting HA motility. Some investigators have shown that samples exhibiting good fertilization rates (FRs) in vitro express substantial HA motility during capacitation, whereas those showing poor FRs in vitro demonstrate less HA motility [10][11][12][13][14]. B ut, other resear cher s ar rived at the opposite conclusion [15,16].…”

A critical review of the physiological importance and analysis of sperm movement in mammals

“…Also, in three of those studies Burkman, 1991;Mortimer and Swan, 1995a), only free-swimming spermatozoa were studied, and flagellar movement was considered, although not measured in detail, in the classification of spermatozoa as hyperactivated or non-hyperactivated. Other studies in this group (Table I) used inappropriate sperm preparation methods (Pilikian et al, 1991), or used chambers which were too shallow for hyperactivation analysis (e.g. Zhu et al, 1994;Farrell et al, 1996a).…”

Sperm Motility Measurement and Hyperactivation

“…In general, rates of hyperactivation have been higher in sperm derived from normal semen than from abnormal semen. 30,61,62 Hyperactivation rates have been found to correlate with sperm success in the zona free hamster oocyte assay, 63 ' 64 sperm binding to the zona pellucida, 32,62 and the occurrence of the acrosome reaction. 33,65 Monitoring hyperactivation has been used in quality control of the zona-free hamster oocyte assay.…”

“…33,65 Monitoring hyperactivation has been used in quality control of the zona-free hamster oocyte assay. 66 Rates of hyperactivation have also been assessed in studying different conditions that may stimulate capacitation, for example, addition of calcium ionophore 33,58,61 and culture on different epithelial cell monolayers. 67 Many of the preceding bioassays of capacitation have been shown to correlate with the success of in vitro fertilization (IVF).…”