Increased velocity and induction of chemotactic response in mouse spermatozoa by follicular and oviductal fluids.

RAFAEL GUSTAVO OLIVEIRA; TOMASI, L.; ROVASIO, R. A.; GIOJALAS, L. C.

JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTION AND FERTILITY

Society for Reproduction and Fertility (England)

Año: 1999 vol. 115 p. 23 - 27

0022-4251

The dynamic parameters of mouse sperm cells exposed to follicular and oviductalfluids were assessed. Spermatozoa were tracked on a chemotactic Zigmond chamberand recorded using a videomicroscopy system. The results were evaluated withcomputer-supported image analysis. Follicular fluid at a dilution of 10m=-markedlyincreased the proportion of spermatozoa with high velocity, and stimulatedchemotactic behaviour. The highest velocities were observed in sperm cells exposed tooviductal fluid, and a greater proportion of these cells had high velocity compared withthose exposed to follicular fluid. Chemotaxis was induced in spermatozoa exposed tooviductal fluid at dilutions of 10m=- and 10m=-. These results suggest the presence oftemporal subpopulations of responsive spermatozoa, considering the distancetravelled towards both follicular and oviductal fluids and the proportion of sperm cellsmigrating towards the gradient in the highest distance ranges. This is the first report onthe effect of isolated follicular and oviductal fluids on dynamic parameters andchemotaxis of mouse spermatozoa. The findings support previous work showing thatthe motility and directionality of mouse sperm cells is increased by factors in themicroenvironment of the egg. Although the significance of these factors in vivo isunknown, it is possible that there is a relay mechanism involving sequential activity ofboth oviductal and follicular fluids to direct the male gametes towards the egg.