In vitro effects of ghrelin and hexarelin on mouse sperm functional activity

LUQUE EM; BERTOLDI ML; VINCENTI LM; DESIMONE F; RUIZ RD; FIOL DE CUNEO M; MARTINI AC

Córdoba

Jornada; XI Jornadas de Investigación Científica, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; 2010

SECyT, FCM-UNC

The presence of the growth hormone secretagogues receptor 1a (GHS-R1a) has been demonstrated in mammalian gametes. Because seminal plasma contains its natural ligand, ghrelin (Ghr), the objectives of the present study were to evaluate the functional activity of mouse spermatozoa incubated in vitro with growth hormone stimulating substances (GHSs). Functional activity was evaluated in caudal epididymal spermatozoa obtained from adult Albino swiss mice. Experiment 1: gametes were incubated for 3 and 20 min with hexarelin (HEX), a ghrelin analogue usually employed in human therapy, at concentrations 10-5, 10-7 or 10-9 M. Experiment 2: sperm were incubated for 3 and 40 min with Ghr (10-7 or 10-9 M) in the presence or absence of an antagonist (D-Lys3 GHRP-6, 10-5 M). Sperm motility were evaluated in a Makler counting chamber, viability with Hoechst 33258 and acrosome integrity with FITC-PSA. Exp 1: addition of HEX for 3 min diminished the percentage of motile spermatozoa; this reduction was statistically significant only at 10-9 M (M±SEM: control 71.8±1.5, n=6; HEX 10-5M 63.8±4.2, n=6; HEX 10-7M 61.4±4.1, n=5 and HEX 10-9M 53.1±4.4, n=5, p