In Vitro Evaluation of Acrosomal Status and Motility in Rat Epididymal Spermatozoa Treated with .ALPHA.-Chlorohydrin for Predicting Their Fertilizing Capacity.

Abstract

Abstract. Rat cauda epididymal spermatozoa treated with α-chlorohydrin at concentrations of 0, 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 under conditions that support in vitro fertilization were used to evaluate the effects of acrosomal status and sperm motility in predicting their fertilizing capacity. Acrosomal status was assessed by fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated concanavalin A (FITC-ConA) lectin assay in combination with supravital stain using calcein acetoxy methyl ester (CAM) and ethidium homodimer-1 (EthD-1) at 1, 3, and 5 h of incubation. Sperm motility was also examined with a computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system at the same time points as acrosomal status. The movement of spermatozoa treated with α-chlorohydrin at 0.01 mM was similar to the control spermatozoa over 5 h of incubation. The 0.1 mM treated spermatozoa showed progressive movement at 1 h of incubation, and low vigorous movement was seen after 3 h of incubation. The 1.0 mM treated spermatozoa showed low progression and low vigorous movement over 5 h of incubation. The FITCConA patterns of rat spermatozoa undergoing acrosome reaction were marked by the appearance of bright green fluorescence from the acrosomal region on their head, and were clearly distinguished from the degenerative acrosome loss in dead sperm. A time-related increase in the percentage of live acrosome lost sperm was observed in the control and 0.01 mM α-chlorohydrin treated groups, but a low percentage and no time-related increase in live acrosome lost sperm without degenerative acrosome loss in dead sperm were observed in the 0.1 and 1.0 mM treated groups. On the basis of these results, rat spermatozoa labeled with FITC-ConA combined with CAM and EthD-1 can have their acrosomal status clearly distinguished. The α-chlorohydrin treated spermatozoa were suppressed not only vigorous movement but also acrosome reaction, and the results suggested that the present staining procedure for acrosomal status can be a useful indicator for predicting spermatozoal fertilizing capacity.

In vitroeffects of nicotine on human spermatozoa

“…It can be speculated, however, that this observation might be mediated through increased ROS production. Studies have, however, shown interesting links between decreased sperm activity, premature AR (Kato et al ., ) and reduced sperm motility as evidenced by increased total and progressive motility as well as VCL and ALH (Liu et al ., ). The premature initiation of acrosomal exocytosis seems to be related to perturbation of the plasma membrane stability.…”

The effects of chronic administration of ghrelin on rat sperm quality and membrane integrity

“…Although, progressive motility is necessary for the spermatozoa to reach the oviductal ampulla, where is the site of fertilization (Kato et al, 2002 ), however, ghrelin did not aff ect signifi cantly the total and forward progressive movement in compared to the control group. It should be considered that there was an increase in the both sperm motility values in the ghrelin-treated rats than the control group on days 15 and 25 which were not statistically signifi cant.…”