Human follicular fluid adverses hamster spermatozoa motility

To determine the optimal conditions for in vitro spermatozoa vitality, human and hamster spermatozoa were incubated at 37 degrees C in T6 medium supplemented with different biologic fluids (10% v/v). The fluids tested were human serum (HUS), hamster serum (HAS), and human follicular fluid (HUF). After incubation the spermatozoa were investigated for their qualitative and quantitative motility. Human spermatozoa maintained a good vitality in all fluids tested (approximately 25% motility after 18-h incubation). The hamster spermatozoa had after an incubation of 4 h a motility of 28.4% in HUS, 14.2% in HAS, and 2.2% in HUF. The quality of the motility was also extremely low in HUF, whereas it was adequate in HUS and in HAS. The presence of species-specific substances in mammalian follicular fluid is discussed.