Co-incubation of human spermatozoa with Chlamydia trachomatis serovar E causes premature sperm death.
The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of elementary bodies (EB) of Chlamydia trachomatis serovars E and LGV on sperm motility, viability and acrosomal status. Highly motile preparations of spermatozoa from normozoospermic patients were co-incubated for 6 h with 0.54x10(6) EB per ml. At 1, 3 and 6 h of incubation, sperm motility was determined by computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) and the proportion of dead cells determined by the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test. Acrosomal status was also examined using a standard monoclonal antibody assay. In the absence of EB, the percentage of motile spermatozoa remained >69% over the 6h incubation and the proportion of dead spermatozoa at <12%. However, during the incubation with EB of serovar E there was a significant decline in the percentage of motile spermatozoa (P < 0.05), and a corresponding increase in the proportion of dead spermatozoa (P < 0.05) at all time-points. However, following incubation with serovar LGV, only the percentage of dead spermatozoa after 6 h incubation was significantly different from the control (P < 0.05). The amount of acrosome-reacted spermatozoa remained unchanged (<16%) in all incubations at all time-points. Dose-response experiments indicated that increasing the concentration of EB to 2.5x10(6) per ml did not significantly alter the results. Furthermore, co-incubation of spermatozoa with dead EB (killed by heat treatment) abolished the chlamydia-mediated response, indicating that the effect is a result of the live organism and not soluble components or membrane elements. These data suggest that a detrimental effect on sperm function by some serovars may be an as yet unrecognized component of infertility problems.
Hosseinzadeh
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S
Division of Molecular and Genetic Medicine, The Medical School, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Brewis
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IA
Eley
A
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Pacey
A A
AA
D020101:Acrosome Reaction; D016923:Cell Death; D002470:Cell Survival; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D012703:Serotyping; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*