Summary. Time-exposure photomicrography and interspecies in-vitro fertilization procedures have been used to examine the influence of prostaglandins on human sperm function. An analysis of variance indicated that the presence of PGs in the incubation media was associated with a significant increase in sperm velocity and the frequency of sperm head rotation, although there were no differences between individual PGs in the degree of stimulation observed. Changes in the penetrating ability of human spermatozoa were detected after exposure to PGs, particularly PGE-1 and PGE-2. PGE-2 induced a sustained increase in penetration rates at all doses of >8·4 μg/ml, while exposure to PGE-1 gave a bell-shaped dose—response curve which exhibited a peak between 8·4 and 33·3 μg/ml and progressively fell to reach control levels at the maximum concentration tested of 270 μg/ml. A combination of PGE-2 and PGE-1 produced a dose—response curve similar to that for PGE-1 alone, while exposure to PGF-2α was without effect. Seminal extracts containing predominantly 19-hydroxy PGE-1, or equal amounts of 19-hydroxy PGE-1 + 2 induced a slight, but significant, rise in penetration rates while a combination of PGs representing the major components of human seminal plasma was without significant effect. We conclude that certain prostaglandins may have a direct action on the functional competence of human spermatozoa.
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