[Spermine inhibition of in vitro fertilizing ability of human spermatozoa and its possible mode of action].

The direct effect of spermine at various concentrations (0.25-8.0 mmol/L) on in vitro fertilizing ability of human spermatozoa was evaluated by the penetration test of zona-free hamster egg. To study the effect of spermine on capacitation, as judged by the rate of penetration, spermatozoa were incubated in BWW with various concentrations of spermine for 6 h at 37 degrees C. The hyperactivated motility of spermatozoa was markedly inhibited by spermine at a concentration of 4.0 mmol/L. The penetration rate was decreased proportionally to the dose of spermine used. Spermatozoa were incubated in BWW with 0.5 mmol/L spermine for 6 h and another 4 h after spermine was washed off with spermine-free BWW. The percentage of penetration was comparable to that of the control. Therefore, spermine-mediated inhibition of capacitation was reversible. Moreover, exogenous dbcAMP (0.5-1.0 mmol/L) or caffeine (10 mmol/L) could antagonize significantly the spermine-induced inhibition of capacitation with a correlation coefficient of 0.990. The content of spermine in fertile men spermatozoa was assayed by HPLC. Before capacitation spermine in spermatozoa was 7.05 micrograms/10(7) cells, whereas after capacitation it was no longer detectable, indicating that spermine may be an inhibitor of in vitro capacitation in human sperm. To study the effect of spermine on capacitated sperm, spermine was added to the BWW medium after sperm had been preincubated in spermine-free BWW. The persistent presence of spermine could interfere with spermatozoa attachment to, binding to and penetration into zona-free hamster eggs, which was related to the concentration (r = 0.820) used.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)