Effects of progesterone on intracellular free Ca2+ concentration in the spermatozoa of fertile men and patients with unexplained infertility / 中华男科学杂志
National Journal of Andrology
; (12): 980-984, 2009.
Article
in Zh
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-252846
Responsible library:
WPRO
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the difference in the responsiveness of intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) to progesterone in the spermatozoa of normal fertile men and patients with unexplained infertility.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Nine normal fertile men and 10 patients with unexplained infertility were selected in this study. After swim-up separation of the motile fraction and 2-hour in vitro capacitation, the spermatozoa were loaded with the fluorescent calcium indicator Fluo-3/AM (8.85 micromol/L) for 40 minutes away from the light, and then the sperm suspension was mixed with equal amount of 20% gelatin to immobilize the spermatozoa. The basal intracellular free [Ca2+]i and that induced by 10 micromol/L progesterone in the individual sperm were assessed by laser scanning confocal microscopy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The infertile patients had a significantly lower basal level of [Ca2+]i in the capacitated sperm than the fertile men (P < 0.01). The sperm from the normal controls responded to progesterone by exhibiting a rapid but transient rise in [Ca2+]i, with the peak level significantly higher than the basal level (P < 0.05), while those from the infertile patients by showing a slight increase, with no significant difference between the peak and basal levels (P > 0.05). Both the peak of the progesterone-induced [Ca2+]i and its increase amplitude expressed as the difference between the peak and basal levels were significantly higher in the normal fertile group than in the infertile patients (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The responsiveness of [Ca2+]i to progesterone is reduced in the spermatozoa of patients with unexplained infertility, which suggests a functional defect in the non-genomic sperm membrane progesterone receptor responsible for calcium influx.</p>
Full text:
1
Index:
WPRIM
Main subject:
Pharmacology
/
Progesterone
/
Spermatozoa
/
Case-Control Studies
/
Calcium
/
Acrosome Reaction
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Infertility, Male
Type of study:
Observational_studies
Limits:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
/
Male
Language:
Zh
Journal:
National Journal of Andrology
Year:
2009
Type:
Article