In vitro fertilization of hamster and human oocytes by microinjection of human sperm

In this study, swollen sperm heads were obtained after the injection of human sperm into the perivitelline space of hamster oocytes. The number of injected sperm and the sperm concentration in the preincubation medium were found to have an influence on the rate of penetrated hamster oocytes. The optimal injected sperm number was always between five to 12 to obtain 8, 37, and 36% penetration for donors A, B, and C, respectively. The optimal sperm concentration in preincubation medium was between 6 and 22 x 10(6) sperm/ml to obtain 16, 47, and 43% penetration for donors A, B, and C, respectively. The rate of polyspermic oocytes was related to the injected sperm number (0, 55, and 100% for one to four, five to 12, and more than 12 injected sperm respectively). Ten human mature oocytes were injected with the sperm from six normal donors. Five fertilized eggs were obtained, and of these four cleaved in in vitro culture.