title: The effect of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum on hamster egg in vitro penetration by human spermatozoa.
abstract: The effects of some genital mycoplasmas on the in vitro penetration of human spermatozoa into the master egg were studied. Ureaplasma urealyticum serotypes 4, 8, and 6 showed high interfering activity: 6.3% (P less than 0.01), 12.3%, and 14.5%, respectively, against the 55.6% penetration rate of untreated sperm. Neither a cytotoxic effect of mycoplasmas on gametes nor a masking of the binding sites on the egg surface were demonstrated. In experiments carried out with U. urealyticum serotype 4, the production of diffusible relatively heat-labile factor(s) responsible for the inhibition of sperm penetration was postulated.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D009174:Mycoplasma; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D014509:Ureaplasma