Human Reproduction, Vol 13, 1578-1583, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
AM Hossain, B Rizk, S Barik, C Huff and IH Thorneycroft
The hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST or HOS test) usually takes into
consideration the total HOS response value with no emphasis either on the
value of the response subtypes or the response evaluation time. This study
investigated the time course of HOS responses and analysed their
physiological relevance. Raw semen spermatozoa and Percoll washed
spermatozoa were used in the experiment. The morphological changes in the
sperm tail were monitored by incubating the spermatozoa in the hypo-
osmotic solution for 16 different time periods. The HOS reactive
spermatozoa and the type of HOS reaction (swelling subtypes) of the samples
subjected to different duration of treatment were identified under a phase
contrast microscope. Also the fate of individual spermatozoa in a
hypo-osmotic environment were monitored for 30 min. In spermatozoa exposed
to a hypo-osmotic solution, the motility lasted usually less than 2 min and
motility characteristics were uniquely different from that of the
spermatozoa under iso-osmotic conditions. The HOS response development was
permanent but the motility loss due to hypo-osmotic shock was reversible up
to 1 min of incubation. There was an indication of ordered transition among
the HOS swelling subtypes apparently initiating with subtype b destined to
c, d, e, f and g. Further, the subtypes a and g showed gradual decrease and
increase, respectively, while subtype b showed abrupt initial increase and
then gradual decrease. Transition from b to g could be direct or via one or
more than one subtypes. Ultrastructure based analysis indicated that HOS
response subtypes are the apparent reflection of the differences in the
cytoskeletal assembly of the sperm tail and thus may be identifying
different physiological variants in the sperm population. These results
indicate that shorter incubation is essential to document the kinetics of
various HOS responses but the conventional HOS test misses these important
HOS features because of lengthy incubation. Since the time course of
ordered transition of HOS responses will vary more than the total HOS
response in semen of different aetiologies, the importance of HOS response
subtypes and response evaluation time should be taken into consideration
when applying HOS test.
ARTICLES
Time course of hypo-osmotic swellings of human spermatozoa: evidence of ordered transition between swelling subtypes
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of South Alabama, Mobile 36688, USA.
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