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Effects of urine on the functional quality of human spermatozoa
D Chen1, M J Scobey, R S Jeyendran
1Andrology Laboratory Services, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Objective:
To determine the effect of urine on sperm function and to elucidate the reason by which it may be deleterious.
Design:
Prospective controlled in vitro study.
Interactions:
Sperm were exposed to various concentrations of pooled urine in Ham's F-10 Medium supplemented with 3.5 g% bovine serum albumin (GIBCO, Grand Island, NY) and sperm exposed to Ham's F-10 Medium with pH and osmolality adjusted to mimic that of the urine (pH 5.4; 520 mOsm).
Main Outcome Measure:
Sperm motility and the ability of sperm to penetrate and migrate into mucus and to penetrate hamster oocytes were determined.
Results:
All sperm variables studied were significantly decreased when the sperm were exposed to > or = 40% urine. Potential of hydrogen- and osmolality-adjusted Ham's F-10 did not significantly affect the sperm function.
Conclusion:
Urine is deleterious to sperm function and may involve other biochemical factors that are unrelated to pH and osmolality of urine.