Human Reproduction, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 873-879, 1995
© 1995 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
research-article |
Andrology: Kinematics of capacitating human spermatozoa analysed at 60 Hz
Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
Correspondence: 1To whom correspondence should be addressed
Hyperactivation is a concomitant of eutherian sperm capacitation, characterized by the development of high amplitude flagellar waves with a corresponding increase in velocity. In humans, kinematic values have been derived which describe the movement characteristics of spermatozoa analysed at 30 images/s. However, these values are frame rate-dependent, and modern computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) instruments used for studying sperm movement now use 60 images/s. This study used first-principles manual track analysis to derive the range of movement characteristics which describe hyperactivated motility of human spermatozoa at 60 images/s. Standard terminology for centroid-derived movement characteristics, as recommended by the World Health Organization, was used. US-standard (NTSC) video recordings of capacitating human sperm populations were replayed using a noninterlaced freeze-frame video cassette recorder, and individual tracks reconstructed on acetate overlays. Tracks were classified as either forward progressive or hyperactivated based upon flagellar beating patterns, then reconstructed manually at x3540 and analysed using both manual methods and basic geometric calculations from (x, y) coordinates (Cartesian methods) similar to those used by CASA instruments. In all, 40 hyperactivated and 40 forward progressive tracks were studied. A set of Boolean arguments defining hyperactivated motility was derived, and there was generally good agreement between the limits derived by manual and Cartesian methods. The limits for the definition of hyperactivated motility of human spermatozoa at 60 Hz derived by Cartesian methods were: curvilinear velocity
180 µm/s AND linearity
45% AND wobble <50% AND amplitude of lateral head displacement ALHmean >6.0 µm OR ALHmax >10.0 µm. The same limits were derived by manual methods, except for ALHmax >7.0 µm. It is suggested that the manually derived limits be applied in CASA instruments which use adaptive smoothing programs to derive the average path.
Key words: human/hyperactivation/kinematics/motility/spermatozoa
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
S. S. Suarez Control of hyperactivation in sperm Hum. Reprod. Update, November 1, 2008; 14(6): 647 - 657. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Baumber and S. A. Meyers Hyperactivated Motility in Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta) Spermatozoa J Androl, May 1, 2006; 27(3): 459 - 468. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. Caballero-Campo, M. Chirinos, X. J. Fan, M. E. Gonzalez-Gonzalez, M. Galicia-Chavarria, F. Larrea, and G. L. Gerton Biological Effects of Recombinant Human Zona Pellucida Proteins on Sperm Function Biol Reprod, April 1, 2006; 74(4): 760 - 768. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. Rathi, B. Colenbrander, M. M. Bevers, and B. M. Gadella Evaluation of In Vitro Capacitation of Stallion Spermatozoa Biol Reprod, August 1, 2001; 65(2): 462 - 470. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. M. Cancel, D. Lobdell, P. Mendola, and S. D. Perreault Objective evaluation of hyperactivated motility in rat spermatozoa using computer-assisted sperm analysis Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2000; 15(6): 1322 - 1328. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. T. Mortimer and M. A. Swan The development of smoothing-independent kinematic measures of capacitating human sperm movement Hum. Reprod., April 1, 1999; 14(4): 986 - 996. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. T. Mortimer and M. A. Swan Effect of image sampling frequency on established and smoothing-independent kinematic values of capacitating human spermatozoa Hum. Reprod., April 1, 1999; 14(4): 997 - 1004. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Green and S. Fishel Morphology comparison of individually selected hyperactivated and non-hyperactivated human spermatozoa Hum. Reprod., January 1, 1999; 14(1): 123 - 130. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||



