TIME WINDOW WHERE MOST SPERM SAMPLES ARE AT OPTIMUM PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE

MORENO, A; CUBILLA, MC; GUIDOBALDI, HA; GIOJALAS, LC

Rosario

Congreso; L Reunión de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Bioquímica y Biología Celular; 2014

Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Bioquímica y Biología Celular

At the beginning of in vitro incubation, sperm (S) are not capacitated (physiological state essential to fertilize the oocyte). Along time, consecutive sperm subpopulations become transiently capacitated, to later acquiring a nonfunctional "post-capacitated" state. The timing of this sequence of events is highly variable between S samples. The aim of this study was to define a time window where most of the S samples are in the best physiological state. Human S were separated from seminal plasma by migration-sedimentation and then incubated for 24 h. Every hour, the induced acrosome reaction (as a measure of capacitation) and the sperm selection assay (SSA; which selects S in the best physiological state by chemotaxis) were determined. The % of capacitated S gradually increased along time, showing a pattern of transient cycles with an amplitude of 2-4 h. The proportion of samples that failed to capacitate was higher at early times, significantly decreasing along the incubation time, while all samples were capacitated after 18 h of incubation. Similar kinetic were observed in the percentage of S selected by chemotaxis towards the progesterone in the SSA. In conclusion, the S incubation for at least 18 h guarantees that most sperm samples have a subpopulation of capacitated S, which are able to be chemotactically selected by progesterone, as a sign of a good S physiological state