Effect of procaine, pentoxifylline and trolox on capacitation and hyperactivation of stallion spermatozoa

Reasons for low in vitro fertilisation rates in the horse include the difficulties in inducing capacitation and/or hyperactivation of stallion spermatozoa. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of noncapacitating and capacitating modified Whitten's (MW) and modified Tyrode's medium (MT) and treatment with procaine (5 mmol), pentoxifylline (3.5 mmol) and trolox (120 mmol) on motility (CASA), capacitation, acrosomal status, viability and mitochondrial membrane potential of stallion spermatozoa (n = 4). While there was no influence of MW and MT on sperm motility, a significant increase in the percentage of viable-capacitated spermatozoa was observed after incubation in capacitating MW (P < 0.05). Pentoxifylline showed no significant effect on the motility pattern but increased the proportion of live-capacitated spermatozoa (P < 0.05). Trolox had no detectable effect on either capacitation or hyperactivation. Procaine was the only agent that induced hyperactivation in terms of a reduced proportion of progressively motile spermatozoa, straight line velocity, straightness, linearity and beat-cross frequency and an increase in the amplitude of lateral head displacement (P < 0.05). The combination of capacitating Whitten's medium and procaine showed the best results for the induction of capacitation and hyperactivation in stallion spermatozoa; this was possible even after short-term incubation.     

体外rhTNF-a对人精子运动、线粒体功能影响的实验研究

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罗丹明/碘化吡啶双染法检测精子线粒体膜功能的研究

目的:探讨罗丹明/碘化吡啶(Rh123/PI)双染法检测精子线粒体膜功能的可行性及临床意义。方法:收集63例精液标本,按WHO精液分析标准分成正常组(n=31)与异常组(n=32)。精子用Rh123/PI染色,流式细胞仪(FCM)分析。结果:正常组与异常组精子Rh123+PI-、Rh123-/PI+、Rh123-/PI-百分率均存在统计学差异(P均<0.05);Rh123+PI-与精子活动率呈正相关(r=0.549,P=0.000),与(a+b)级精子百分率呈正相关(r=0.531,P=0.000),与d级精子百分率呈负相关(r=-0.586,P=0.000);Rh123-/PI+与精子活率负相关(r=-0.586,P=0.000),与(a+b)级精子百分率负相关(r=-0.594,P=0.000),与d级百分率精子正相关(r=0.585,P=0.000),Rh123-/PI-仅与异常组的密度有相关性(r=-0.563,P=0.001)。结论:运用Rh123/PI双染法鉴定精子的线粒体膜功能具有可行性,可用于评估男性生育力。     

Evidence for the involvement of sperm angiotensin converting enzyme in fertilization

Recently it has been observed that ejaculated human sperm possess high angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity and that this enzyme is released during the process of capacitation. This observation raises the possibility that ACE may be involved in the fertilization process. To verify this hypothesis, we tested the effects of a potent ACE inhibitor, Captopril, on acrosome reaction induced by capacitating medium (3.5% HSA-added BWW) and on ability of human capacitated spermatozoa to penetrate zona-free hamster oocytes. Addition of Captopril (100 nmol l-1) modified neither sperm motility nor viability at any time considered, but significantly reduced the acrosome reaction percentages of sperm incubated in capacitating medium. Furthermore, Captopril significantly reduced the percentage of penetrated oocytes. The mean penetration rates both in the absence and presence of Captopril were 65.5 +/- 4.9% and 26.9 +/- 2.3% (P less than 0.001) respectively. These findings provide evidence that sperm release of ACE during capacitation may have a physiological role in the regulation of the mechanisms that allow sperm acrosome reaction and thus fertilizability.     

Immunolocalization and possible functional role of PSP-I/PSP-II heterodimer in highly extended boar spermatozoa

PSP-I/PSP-II heterodimer is a major protein of boar seminal plasma which is able to preserve, in vitro, the viability, motility, and mitochondrial activity of highly extended boar spermatozoa for at least 5 hours. However, little is known about the binding pattern of the heterodimer to the sperm plasma membrane and its eventual relation with the maintenance of the sperm functionality. The present study investigated the effect of exposing highly extended boar spermatozoa (1 million/mL) to 1.5 mg/mL of PSP-I/PSP-II for 0.5, 5, and 10 hours at 38 degrees C on sperm characteristics and the changes in PSP-I/PSP-II localization as a result of both the addition of PSP-I/PSP-II to the extender and the incubation time. Exposure of the spermatozoa to PSP-I/PSP-II preserved sperm viability, motility, and mitochondrial activity when compared to nonexposed spermatozoa. This protective effect lasted for 10 hours (P < .05). After immunolabeling of highly extended semen with rabbit monospecific polyclonal antibody against PSP-I/PSP-II, the percentage of immunopositive spermatozoa declines over time from 71% (0.5 hours) to 49% (10 hours). However, more than 80% of spermatozoa remained labeled during the 10-hour incubation period if PSP-I/PSP-II was added. Scanning electron microscopy revealed 4 different binding patterns. The heterodimer was mainly localized to the acrosomal area, being redistributed to the postacrosomal area or lost during in vitro incubation. In conclusion, the protective effect of the heterodimer appears to be related to its adhesion to the acrosomal area, and the loss of this protective effect coincides with a stepwise redistribution of PSP-I/PSP-II during incubation.     

Protection of melatonin against damage of sperm mito-chondrial function induced by reactive oxygen species

Aim: To study the mitochondrial function damage of sperm in-duced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the protection of melatonin (MLT) against the damage. Methods: Normal function spermatozoa were selected from semen samples by Percoll gradi-ent centrifugation technique. The ROS generated by the hypoxan-thine xanthine oxidase system was incubated with the normal sper-matozoa in the presence or absence of MLT (6 retool/L) for 30 and 60 minutes.     

Dissecting the protective effect of the seminal plasma spermadhesin PSP-I/PSP-II on boar sperm functionality

To dissect the protective activity of PSP-I/PSP-II, the effect of the isolated subunits PSP-I and PSP-II and their affinity-purified tryptic peptide and glycan fractions on the viability, mitochondrial activity, and motility of highly diluted boar spermatozoa was investigated. High dilution exerted a negative effect on control spermatozoa. Incubation of spermatozoa with PSP-I/PSP-II or with its PSP-II subunit had a protective effect on sperm functionality, high mitochondrial membrane potential, and sperm motility. These effects were less pronounced when spermatozoa were incubated with the PSP-I subunit. It was noteworthy that motility was abolished by incubation of spermatozoa with isolated PSP-I. Trypsin-degraded PSP-I/PSP-II, PSP-I, and PSP-II reproduced the effects of the native proteins. Incubating spermatozoa with the glycan-depleted tryptic-peptide fraction of PSP-I/PSP-II for 5 hours preserved a higher percentage of viable spermatozoa than when sperm was incubated for the same time with the native heterodimer, trypsin-digested PSP-I/PSP-II, the glycan fraction or without added proteins. However, sperm motility decreased as the concentration of added peptide fraction increased. On the other hand, spermatozoa incubated with the glycan fraction showed lower values than spermatozoa incubated with the peptide fraction. We concluded that the subunits of the PSP-I/PSP-II heterodimeric spermadhesin exert different activities on sperm functions. The finding that the beneficial effect of the native PSP-I/PSP-II on the functionality of highly diluted boar spermatozoa is largely preserved in its isolated PSP-II subunit and does not appear to require the glycan moiety points to a peptide moiety as a potential sperm function-preserving additive of highly diluted boar spermatozoa.     

添加黄芪注射液对人精子线粒体功能的影响

目的 观察添加黄芪注射液对人精子线粒体功能的影响。方法 弱精子症精子与黄芪注射液共孵化,用若丹明(Rh123)和碘化吡啶(PI)染色并用流式细胞技术检测人精子线粒体功能。结果 添加黄芪组线粒体功能良好的活精子数(9.831.65)明显高于对照组(6.500.41),与对照组比较差异有显著性(P<0.05)。添加黄芪组(42.493.73)的线粒体荧光值也明显高于对照组(31.074.49),与空白对照组比较差异有显著性(P<0.05)。结论 体外添加黄芪注射液能增强弱精子症精子线粒体的活性,为黄芪作为体外添加剂提高精子活力提供理论基础。     

褪黑素在活性氧致精子线粒体功能损伤中的保护作用

目的 :探讨活性氧 (ROS)对精子线粒体功能的损伤以及褪黑素 (MLT)的保护作用。　方法 :采用Percoll梯度离心法选择具有正常生理功能的精子 ,作为本实验的正常精子模型。应用次黄嘌呤—黄嘌呤氧化酶体系产生ROS ,在MLT存在与不存在情况下 ,与精子模型分别孵育 30和 6 0min后 ,采用酶组织化学方法分析精子线粒体部位的琥珀酸脱氢酶 (SDH)活性 ,采用Rhodamine 1 2 3(Rh1 2 3)荧光探针标记精子 ,通过流式细胞仪检测线粒体膜电位。　结果 :正常精子与ROS孵育后 ,精子线粒体膜电位明显降低 ,线粒体SDH活力降低极为显著 ;而MLT则减轻了ROS对精子线粒体功能的损伤。　结论 :ROS可通过对精子线粒体膜电位和SDH活力的影响 ,而导致精子线粒体功能损伤 ;MLT可通过其有效的抗氧化能力 ,保护精子对抗ROS对其线粒体功能的损伤     

Influence of tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol, non-ortho PCB 77 and gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane on human sperm function in vitro

In recent years, there has been growing concern that environmental pollutants in general, and organochlorines in particular, adversely affect male fertility. Therefore, we investigated the effects of tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol (TCPM), non-ortho PCB 77 and gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (gamma-HCH, lindane) on human sperm functions in vitro. Human spermatozoa from healthy donors were washed in human tubular fluid medium containing 1% human serum albumin, filtered through glass wool and exposed to different concentrations of TCPM, PCB 77 or gamma-HCH. After incubation for 5 h at 37 degrees C and 5% CO(2), sperm vitality and the percentage of living acrosome-reacted spermatozoa were examined using triple stain technique. Total sperm motility was evaluated by computer-assisted sperm analysis (Stroemberg-Mika) after 5 h. For TCPM, total motility was additionally measured after 18 and 40 h. Different concentrations of PCB 77 and gamma-HCH did not alter the percentage of spontaneous living acrosome-reacted spermatozoa, vitality and total motility. TCPM dose-dependently altered sperm motility, vitality and acrosome reaction. The percentage of living acrosome-reacted spermatozoa was increased at overtly toxic concentrations. Therefore, it is suggested that unspecific acrosomal loss has been induced by degenerative processes. In conclusion, even high concentrations of PCB 77 and gamma-HCH did not affect human sperm functions in vitro. Only very high cytotoxic TCPM concentrations modulated spontaneous acrosome reaction and total motility. Therefore, in vivo effects on human sperm function seem to be unlikely. However, individual susceptibility has to be considered and little is known about additive and possible synergistic effects as other environmental pollutants with similar potencies have been found in the human male and female reproductive tract.     

Impact of spontaneous smoking cessation on sperm quality: case report

We evaluated sperm quality after a 3-month smoking cessation programme by sperm analysis, objective sperm motility analysis, protein tyrosine phosphorylation in capacitating conditions and DNA fragmentation (TUNEL). Sperm analysis after smoking cessation revealed a distinctive improvement in sperm concentration, fast spermatozoa (≥35 μm/s), sperm vitality, percentage of spermatozoa recuperated after an enrichment technique and protein tyrosine phosphorylation. However, no changes were observed in the number of germinal cells in the ejaculate, sperm morphology and sperm DNA fragmentation. It is concluded that physicians should strongly advise their patients to quit smoking before undergoing medical treatment or assisted reproduction techniques to achieve pregnancy.     

JC-1单标法流式细胞术检测精子线粒体膜电位的研究

目的:探讨应用荧光染料JC-1单色标记法进行流式细胞术检测精子线粒体膜电位(MMP)的可行性及其临床意义。方法:收集63例男性精液标本,分为生育组(n=31)和不育组(n=32)。通过计算机辅助精液分析系统进行精液常规分析。精液标本洗涤处理后用JC-1染色后上流式细胞仪分析,用发橙红色荧光精子百分率(JC-1+%)表示MMP正常精子的比例。结果:生育组精子JC-1+%为(75.89±15.69)%,显著高于不育组[(54.04±22.21)%,P=0.000]。63例标本中,JC-1+%与精子活动率呈显著正相关(r=0.610,P=0.000),与(a+b)级精子百分率呈显著正相关(r=0.614,P=0.000),与d级精子百分率呈显著负相关(r=-0.504,P=0.000)。JC-1+%与已建立的罗丹明/碘化吡啶双染法检测结果(Rh123+/PI-%)呈显著正相关(r=0.938,P=0.000)。结论:应用流式细胞术JC-1单标法检测精子MMP具有可行性,精子JC-1+%可作为男性不育的辅助诊断指标。     

Detection of progesterone receptors in human spermatozoa and their correlation with morphological and functional properties

In previous reports, it has been demonstrated that progesterone (P) stimulates capacitation, hyperactivation of human sperm motility and initiates the acrosome reaction (AR). This last effect has been related to the presence of non-genomic receptors for the steroid, localized on the sperm head plasma membrane. These receptors can be detected after treating spermatozoa with the non-permeable conjugate Progesterone - 3-(O-carboxymethyl) oxime: bovine serum albumin-fluorescein isothiocyanate (P-BSA-FITC). In the present study, the presence of progesterone receptors was determined in a selected sperm population with normal morphology and high progressive motility. In addition, other parameters such as the AR, hypo-osmotic swelling test, stability of chromatin and capacitating effect of P were evaluated. The percentage of P-BSA-FITC positive-spermatozoa present in the selected sperm population was higher than in total seminal spermatozoa. Furthermore, spermatozoa incubated with P showed a higher percentage motility and AR than did control spermatozoa. The HOS test indicated that membrane integrity of P-treated spermatozoa was not different to that found in the control sperm suspensions. Unexpectedly, the total sperm population treated with P showed a marked susceptibility to nuclear decondensation with reducing agents. According to these results, the selected sperm population of this study, able to respond to P, may be similar to that with good motility and normal morphology selected in the female reproductive tract, before fertilization.     

Epididymal epithelial cells cultured in vitro prolong the motility of bovine sperm

It is well known that the epididymis is an excellent environment to maintain sperm viability. Therefore, we used different sections of bovine epididymis (caput, corpus, and cauda) to develop epithelial cell culture monolayers to identify factors that will increase sperm survival in the freezing-thawing process. Each epididymal section was dissected and treated with collagenase to obtain epithelial cell clusters. The cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium with 10% serum at 38.5 degrees C. A confluent monolayer was obtained after 5-7 days in culture and preliminary characterization using cytokeratin antibody indicated that the cell culture contained 85%-95% of epithelial cells. These cellular cultures were tested for their ability to maintain motility of epididymal and frozen-thawed spermatozoa. Washed spermatozoa were added to obtain a final dilution of 1 x 10(6) spermatozoa/mL. The motility of frozen-thawed spermatozoa was also recorded after incubation in conditioned media. Our results show that cocultures of spermatozoa and epididymal cell monolayers for 24 and 48 hours were beneficial for maintaining epididymal and frozen-thawed sperm motility (36.0% and 20.4%) compared with spermatozoa cultured with fibroblast cells or in the absence of a cell monolayer (0%; P < .01). The conditioned medium provides favorable conditions for sperm motility. Results with conditioned medium on maintenance of frozen-thawed sperm motility suggest that epididymal cells in vitro secrete beneficial factors that prolong the sperm survival.     

Effect of freezing–thawing on the expression of mannose-ligand receptors on human spermatozoa: the impact on sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction

The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in the expression of mannose-ligand receptors following a freezing-thawing procedure, in order to assess its impact on sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction. Twenty semen samples were obtained from fertile donors. Sperm samples were divided into two equal volumes. One aliquot was cryopreserved and the other aliquot was incubated at 32 degrees C. After 2 h the frozen sample was thawed and both samples were further incubated at 32 degrees C to allow capacitation. Mannose receptors were examined following 4 and 22 h of incubation using a mannosylated-BSA-FITC probe. The expression of mannose-ligand receptors on the sperm plasma membrane was determined according to the fluorescence pattern: pattern I represents pre-capacitation, pattern II represents capacitated spermatozoa and pattern III represents acrosome-reacted spermatozoa. After 4 h incubation in capacitating medium, the percentages of patterns I, II and III were 90, 7 and 3% for fresh spermatozoa and 89, 8 and 3% for frozen-thawed spermatozoa, respectively (P > 0.05). Following 22 h of incubation, the percentages of patterns I, II and III were 84, 11 and 5 for fresh spermatozoa and 83, 11 and 6% for frozen-thawed spermatozoa, respectively (not significant at P > 0.05). The percentages of patterns II and III in fresh and frozen-thawed spermatozoa were increased by the same magnitude with longer incubation in the capacitating conditions. It was concluded that the freezing-thawing procedure for human spermatozoa does not affect the expression of mannose-ligand receptors and the dynamics of sperm pre-fertilization processes.     

Characterization of hyperactivated motility by human spermatozoa during capacitation: comparison of fertile and oligozoospermic sperm populations

Suspensions of capacitating human spermatozoa were analyzed for potential hyperactivated movements using videomicrographic methods. Analysis was carried out on aliquots of 22 sperm suspensions, which were proved fertile several hours later during human in vitro fertilization. After approximately 3 h of capacitation, 22.1% of the fertile spermatozoa displayed motility patterns designated as hyperactivated. Over 80% of these hyperactivated spermatozoa moved with a wide-amplitude, two-dimensional whiplash pattern, displaying marked lateral displacement of the head. Only 8.4% of capacitating spermatozoa from oligozoospermic patients showed these hyperactivated movements. The incidence of hyperactivated movements by fertile and oligozoospermic spermatozoa could be significantly increased after exposure to various motility stimulants. The clinical significance of hyperactivation as a functional assay of fertilizing capacity is discussed.     

A microperfusion chamber for study of mammalian spermatozoa

The design of a microperfusion chamber is presented for use with spermatozoa or other cell suspensions. This chamber allows perfusion of a small number of spermatozoa during simultaneous observation of cell behavior at the microscope. The chamber is made from a flat glass capillary tube that is fitted at both ends with a filter unit containing Millipore filter discs. The entire assembly is designed to fit the stage of an inverted microscope. A population containing as few as several hundred sperm cells may be observed in the chamber during successive changes of the suspending medium as controlled by a perfusion pump. Several experiments are presented demonstrating sperm survival in the sealed chamber and the response of rabbit and human sperm motility after the washing process. For these manipulations, the percentage of motile cells, linear swimming speed and incidence of hyperactivated motility are reported. Simple incubation in the chamber for 1 hour was not deleterious to the motility of rabbit spermatozoa. Human seminal spermatozoa showed no decline in vigorous motility after the washing procedure. Compared with in vitro capacitated spermatozoa, however, washing of rabbit seminal spermatozoa showed a variable response. Finally, partially capacitated human spermatozoa were examined for any alteration of motility during chamber incubation with a subsequent wash. When small numbers of spermatozoa or other cell types must be manipulated, the methodology can be effectively substituted for the standard washing procedure that uses repeated centrifugation and resuspension.     

Induction of the acrosome reaction in bull spermatozoa with plasmin

Proteolytic enzymes appear to have an essential role in multiple phases of mammalian fertilization. Plasmin, the active enzyme of the plasminogen activation system that stimulates fibrinolysis and proteolysis has a less well-documented role in reproduction. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of the active protease, plasmin, on the ability of bovine sperm to undergo the acrosome reaction. Aliquots of freshly ejaculated bull sperm were incubated in capacitating conditions with 10 microg ml-1 of heparin for 4 h. Every 2 h an aliquot of spermatozoa was exposed to lysophosphatidylcholine (100 microg ml-1) or 0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 mU of plasmin to induce the acrosome reaction in capacitated spermatozoa. Plasmin increased the percentage of live acrosome reacted sperm after 4 h of incubation in the capacitation medium. Viability was not affected by any of the treatments. This study provides new information on bovine acrosome reaction during in vitro incubation with plasmin and indicates that this protease may participate in the proteolytic events that accompany fertilization.     

Loss of acid phosphatase from rat spermatozoa as a method for assessing the acrosome reaction

A method is presented for evaluating the extent of the acrosome reaction by measuring the release of acrosomal acid phosphatase from rat spermatozoa during incubation under capacitating conditions. Treatment of spermatozoa with lysophosphatidylcholine or Triton X-100 released the acid phosphatase from the sperm cell. Using this enzymatic method we could not detect an alteration in enzyme activity following 5 h incubation under capacitating conditions. The effect of in vitro capacitation for 5 h in the absence or presence of heparin or ionophore A23187 was studied. Incubation in the presence of heparin (10 micrograms ml-1) caused a 32% increase in enzyme activity. After exposure of the spermatozoa to ionophore A23187 (0.5 microM) 16% increase of enzyme activity could be detected.     

Effects of varicocelectomy on sperm DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial function, chromatin condensation, and apoptosis

The aim of this study was to evaluate conventional semen parameters (density, morphology, and progressive motility) and the flow-cytometric parameters of DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial membrane potential, phosphatidylserine externalization, and chromatin compactness in patients with varicocele before and after varicocelectomy. Thirty men (26.5 ± 3.2 years old, range 20-32 years) with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia and grade 3 left varicocele were selected (without other causes of male infertility). Each of them underwent sperm analysis and flow cytometric evaluation before and 4 months after subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy (SMV). After varicocelectomy, men had significantly higher sperm density, progressive motility, and normal forms compared with baseline. They also had a significantly lower percentage of spermatozoa with low mitochondrial membrane potential. After SMV, they showed a significantly lower percentage of spermatozoa with phosphatidylserine externalization, an early sign of apoptosis. Significantly decreased percentages of spermatozoa with abnormal chromatin compactness and spermatozoa with DNA fragmentation were found after SMV compared with baseline. Subinguinal microsurgical varicocelectomy improves sperm function in oligoasthenoteratozoospermia secondary to grade 3 left varicocele. Improvements are seen in conventional parameters and biofunctional parameters not routinely evaluated.