A preliminary study on the rheological properties of human ejaculate and changes during liquefaction.
OBJECTIVE
To study the changes in rheological properties, namely the parameters of the hysteresis loops and yield stress versus time for human semen after ejaculation.


METHODS
Ejaculates were obtained from volunteers and immediately put into the test cup of a Brookfield Programmable DV-11 Rheometer, by which the hysteresis loops and yield stress were determined.


RESULTS
(1) Yield stress values dropped down from more than 3000 mPa to 60 mPa in about 5 minutes after ejaculation; (2) The shape of the hysteresis loops of shear stress versus shear rate was changed from the counter-clockwise direction, that enclosed a large area, into the clockwise direction, that enclosed a very small area.


CONCLUSIONS
Human ejaculate originally possesses semi-solid or visco-elastic body behavior and in 5 minutes after liquefaction, it becomes a thixotropic fluid or shearing thinning fluid with very low viscosity.
Shi
Yong-De
YD
Department of Biophysics, Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai 200032, China. sswwl@sh163.net.
Pan
Lan-Feng
LF
Yang
Fei-Kun
FK
Wang
Si-Qi
SQ
D000328:Adult; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D012212:Rheology; D012661:Semen / Q000502:physiology*; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014783:Viscosity