title: Morphological changes in human spermatozoa as examined under scanning electron microscope after in vitro exposure to saponins isolated from Sapindus mukorossi.
abstract: Saponins isolated from Sapindus mukorossi have potent spermicidal activity. Morphological changes in human ejaculated spermatozoa after exposure to these saponins were evaluated under Scanning Electron Microscope. The minimum effective concentration (0.05% in spot test) did not affect the surface topography after exposure for 1 minute. However, incubation of spermatozoa for 10 minutes resulted in extensive vesiculation and disruption of plasma membrane in the head region. Higher concentrations (0.1%, 1.25%, 2.5% and 5.0%) caused more or less similar changes which included vesiculation, vacuolation, disruption or erosion of membranes in the head region. These findings suggest that the morphological changes observed are due to alterations in the glycoproteins associated with the lipid bilayer of plasma membrane of spermatozoa.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Dhar
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Bajpai
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Setty
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Kamboj
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values; D012503:Saponins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D012503:Saponins