The importance of the presence of metabolizable sugars in a medium for in vitro fertilization of hamster eggs with postovulatory oviduct contents.
Hamster eggs with postovulatory oviduct contents were added to a simple defined medium, without serum albumin, but supplemented with different combinations of energy sources. They were then inseminated by epididymal spermatozoa. In a medium containing D-glucose but without pyruvate and/or lactate, high proportions of acrosome-reacted spermatozoa (78-94%) and eggs undergoing fertilization (89-96%) were obtained 9-9.5 h after insemination. With only pyruvate or lactate as substrates, or with both pyruvate and lactate, acrosome reactions occurred in only 2-4% of the sperm. When D-glucose ranging in concentration from 2.78 to 8.34 mM was added, a high proportion (82-95%) of the eggs inseminated were found to be fertilized. Substituting D-galactose, L-glucose, L-fucose, D-lactose, or D-saccharose for D-glucose resulted in very low numbers of acrosome-reacted sperm (0-12%) and fertilized eggs (0-7%). However, in the presence of metabolizable sugars, such as D-mannose or D-fructose, the acrosome reaction was seen in 78-85% of the sperm examined and 87-95% of the eggs tested were fertilized.
D000818:Animals; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D003470:Culture Media; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000187:drug effects*; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D010060:Ovulation; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology
D002241:Carbohydrates; D003470:Culture Media; D005947:Glucose