[Change in sodium and potassium concentration in human seminal plasma infected experimentally with Ureaplasma...

The concentration of sodium and potassium ions was measured by flame photometry in human seminal plasma and human sperm cells as well as in a sperm cell suspension infected experimentally with Ureaplasma urealyticum during incubation as long as 22 hours. The sodium concentration is 86.2 +/- 21.97 mmol/l cells in sperm cells and 120.8 +/- 15.87 mM in seminal plasma. The potassium concentration is 33.2 +/- 16.35 mmol/l cells in sperm cells and 26.7 +/- 4.92 mM in seminal plasma. The sodium concentration decreased considerably in the suspension medium of sperm cells during the first hour of incubation and increased again subsequently. The potassium concentration in the suspension medium changed only little. The sodium concentration in the infected sperm cell suspension was insignificantly increased compared with the mycoplasma-free controls. The potassium concentration was slightly higher in the infected specimens than in the controls. There was no mycoplasma-induced effect on the concentration of sodium and potassium in the sperm suspension after experimental infection.