Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Sperm dysfunction is the commonest cause of infertility, yet there is currently no drug a man can take, or be added to his sperm in-vitro, to improve fertility. The rationale of drug discovery research is to find a drug which increases sperm motility and success of ART. Despite limitations in understanding of sperm physiology, it is acknowledged calcium is central to motility and function. Validated high-throughput screening of compounds from University ...

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...