title: Correlation between elemental composition and motility of human spermatozoa.
abstract: X-ray microanalysis of human sperm cells in donor semen having a range of motilities from 0% to 85% showed that elemental composition is not strongly correlated with spermatozoal motility. Only copper in the midpiece was positively correlated with motility when high- and low-fertility groups were compared. Aging of cells in semen caused large changes in subcellular elemental concentrations as motility decreased, notably with uptake of zinc, but these changes were not reflected in the range of motilities in the clinical samples. Electrolyte balance as measured by sodium to potassium ratios also appeared not to be correlated with motility. Subcellular elemental distribution is not a major factor in determining sperm motility in normal human semen.
mesh_terms: D000177:Acrosome / Q000032:analysis; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008274:Magnesium / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D011188:Potassium / Q000032:analysis; D012964:Sodium / Q000032:analysis; D013077:Sperm Head / Q000032:analysis; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000032:analysis*; D013455:Sulfur / Q000032:analysis; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus; D013455:Sulfur; D003300:Copper; D012964:Sodium; D008274:Magnesium; D015032:Zinc; D011188:Potassium; D002118:Calcium