Induction of acrosome reaction by low temperature is comparable to physiological induction by human follicular fluid

The acrosome reaction was induced by means of low temperature or human follicular fluid (FF) in spermatozoa from 18 patients. Live acrosome-reacted spermatozoa were determined with the triple-stain technique. Both inducers of acrosome reaction had a highly significant correlation with the percentage of acrosome-reacted spermatozoa after induction of the acrosome reaction: (r = 0.9190; P < 0.0001) and the inducibility of AR (r = 0.8472; P < 0.0001). This might indicate that both the non-physiological (low temperature) and the physiological (FF) inducers use the same signal transduction pathway, and demonstrates the usefulness of low temperature induction for diagnostic purposes.