Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Potassium channels are essential for the physiological regulation of cell excitability through control of membrane hyperpolarisation. In human sperm slo1 and/or 3 have been proposed to mediate this function (Mannowetz et al. 2013, Mansell et al. 2014). However, to date there is no information on dysfunction in men and the consequence of this for their fertility.Materials and methods: Men undergoing ICSI treatment or recall...

Introduction: The primary treatment of infertility is assisted reproductive technology (ART). However, removal of an oocyte from its natural environment and exposure to in vitro conditions diminishes oocyte quality during the process of ART. In our preliminary studies we have shown that oocytes express cytoprotective ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels. Therefore, the aim of our study was to elucidate whether activation of these channels protects hu...