The Rôle of Oxygen in the Metabolism and Motility of Human Spermatozoa

Abstract

The APS Journal Legacy Content is the corpus of 100 years of historical scientific research from the American Physiological Society research journals. This package goes back to the first issue of each of the APS journals including the American Journal of Physiology, first published in 1898. The full text scanned images of the printed pages are easily searchable. Downloads quickly in PDF format.

Of diamond surfaces, red light photobiomodulation and fertility: lessons from the laboratory

“…Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are toxic to both spermatozoa and oocytes, with the former being more sensitive to high ROS concentrations (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). MacLeod demonstrated that oxidative stress was responsible for decreases in sperm motility and that the adverse effects of increased oxygen concentrations could be mitigated by adding catalase to cultures (5).…”

“…MacLeod demonstrated that oxidative stress was responsible for decreases in sperm motility and that the adverse effects of increased oxygen concentrations could be mitigated by adding catalase to cultures (5).…”

“…At low concentrations, ROS act as second messengers that regulate increases in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), the activation of protein kinase A (PKA), the phosphorylation of PKA substrates of the arginine-X-X-(serine/threonine) motif, the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and mitogenactivated protein kinase (MEK) proteins and the threonineglutamate tyrosine motif, as well as fibrous sheath protein tyrosine phosphorylation (4,5,10). These functions are involved in sperm capacitation, acrosome reaction and oocyte fertilization (4,5,10).…”

“…These functions are involved in sperm capacitation, acrosome reaction and oocyte fertilization (4,5,10).…”

“…Sperm plasma membranes contain large quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) whereas their cytoplasm contains low concentrations of enzymes that scavenge ROS (4,5,10). High concentrations of ROS overwhelm the endogenous antioxidant defenses of gametes, causing multiple derangements.…”