The functional receptors that bind human CG (hCG) and LH have recently been identified in a number of nongonadal human tissues. The current experiments tested the hypothesis that human ejaculated sperm may also contain them. The data revealed that they, indeed, do as determined by the presence of receptor messenger RNA and receptor protein that can bind (125)I-hCG. The receptors were functional...

Generation of NO by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is implicated in gamete interaction and fertilisation. Exposure of human spermatozoa to NO donors caused mobilisation of stored Ca(2+) by a mechanism that did not require activation of guanylate cyclase but was mimicked by S-nitroso-glutathione (GSNO; an S-nitrosylating agent). Application of dithiothreitol, to reduce protein -SNO groups, rapidly ...

BACKGROUND TR-KIT, a truncated form of KIT (the KITL receptor), corresponding to the c-terminal half of the intracellular split tyrosine kinase domain, is expressed during the haploid stages of mouse spermatogenesis, and is one of the candidate sperm factors possibly involved in egg activation at fertilization. METHODS Immunocytochemistry of adult human testis, and studies of human semen samp...

Lithium is a widely prescribed drug used for the treatment of bipolar affective illness. Previous reports on its effects on sperm motility and male fertility are conflicting. The effect of lithium on human sperm motility was examined in vitro using the modified transmembrane migration method. This technique takes account of the dilution of lithium that occurs during the incubation. Lithium inhi...

I n the recent literature, several interesting articles have been published using the zona pellucdia (ZP)-bound sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to enhance embryo quality, implantation and clinical pregnancy rates. The three studies were performed independently in different ART clinics. In the test group, patients’ sibling immature (either germinal vesicle (GV) or metaphase I) ...

To investigate a possible common environmental exposure that may partially explain the observed decrease in human semen quality, we correlated seminal plasma and blood cadmium levels with sperm concentration and sperm motility. We studied three separate human populations: group 1, infertility patients (Long Island, NY, USA); group 2, artificial insemination donors (AID) (Rochester, NY, USA); an...

Our objective was to study the incidence of sperm-tail phosphotyrosine immunoreactivity in normozoospermic and asthenozoospermic human sperm samples, its association with sperm motion parameters, particularly hyperactivated motility, and its potential involvement in the pathogenesis of asthenozoospermia. The work was conducted as a prospective experimental study in the Sperm Biology and Androlo...

At ejaculation, human sperm are considered to be mechanically trapped and become immotile in the semen coagulum by binding to semenogelins (Sgs) from the seminal vesicle and zinc ions from the prostate. However, the physiological combined roles of the protein and heavy metal on sperm motility are unknown. Here, we have first demonstrated that Sg I alone, which does not form the semen coagulum w...

A sperm donor will be biological father of every child produced as a result of his donation. However, he is not intended to be a legal father. Sperm can be stored for as long as twenty years. However, only 50% of the sperm cells survive that time and have normal capability to fertilize the egg. The first successful artificial insemination of a woman with her husband's sperm was recorded in 1790...

STUDY QUESTION Are there any links between the length measurements of sperm components (head, midpiece, flagellum, total sperm length and the flagellum:head ratio) and data obtained during semen analysis? SUMMARY ANSWER Both the mean measurement and the variation in the lengths of sperm components are related to characteristics of semen. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Studies in non-human species ha...