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In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes

BACKGROUND: The mechanism of action of levonorgestrel (LNG) as emergency contraception (EC) remains a subject of debate and its effect on sperm function has been only partially explained. The aim of this study was to assess whether LNG at a similar dose to those found in serum following oral intake...

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Autores principales: Hermanny, Alexia, Bahamondes, M Valeria, Fazano, Francisco, Marchi, Nadia M, Ortiz, Maria Elena, Genghini, Maria Heloisa RR, Croxatto, Horacio B, Bahamondes, Luis
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395846/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22289514
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-7827-10-8
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author Hermanny, Alexia
Bahamondes, M Valeria
Fazano, Francisco
Marchi, Nadia M
Ortiz, Maria Elena
Genghini, Maria Heloisa RR
Croxatto, Horacio B
Bahamondes, Luis
author_facet Hermanny, Alexia
Bahamondes, M Valeria
Fazano, Francisco
Marchi, Nadia M
Ortiz, Maria Elena
Genghini, Maria Heloisa RR
Croxatto, Horacio B
Bahamondes, Luis
author_sort Hermanny, Alexia
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The mechanism of action of levonorgestrel (LNG) as emergency contraception (EC) remains a subject of debate and its effect on sperm function has been only partially explained. The aim of this study was to assess whether LNG at a similar dose to those found in serum following oral intake for EC could affect spermatozoa when exposed to human fallopian tubes in vitro. METHODS: Fifteen mini-laparotomies were performed, the side on which ovulation occurred was recorded, and both tubes were removed and perfused with a suspension containing 1 × 10(6) motile spermatozoa, with or without LNG. Following 4-hour incubation, the tubes were sectioned to separate the isthmus and the ampulla. Each segment was flushed and the material was evaluated to quantify the number of motile sperm, the number of spermatozoa adhering to the oviductal epithelium and the acrosome reaction (AR) rate. RESULTS: The addition of LNG did not significantly alter the number of recovered motile spermatozoa either at the isthmus or at the ampulla, nor did it have any effect on the number of recovered spermatozoa adhered to the human tubal epithelium. Furthermore, LNG did not affect the AR rate. No significant differences were found even when the side on which ovulation occurred was taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: In a similar dose to that observed in serum following oral intake for EC, LNG had no effect on the number of motile spermatozoa recovered from the human fallopian tubes in vitro, on their adhesion to the tubal epithelium, distribution or AR rate. The possible effect of LNG as EC on sperm function remains poorly understood.
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spelling pubmed-33958462012-07-14 In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes Hermanny, Alexia Bahamondes, M Valeria Fazano, Francisco Marchi, Nadia M Ortiz, Maria Elena Genghini, Maria Heloisa RR Croxatto, Horacio B Bahamondes, Luis Reprod Biol Endocrinol Research BACKGROUND: The mechanism of action of levonorgestrel (LNG) as emergency contraception (EC) remains a subject of debate and its effect on sperm function has been only partially explained. The aim of this study was to assess whether LNG at a similar dose to those found in serum following oral intake for EC could affect spermatozoa when exposed to human fallopian tubes in vitro. METHODS: Fifteen mini-laparotomies were performed, the side on which ovulation occurred was recorded, and both tubes were removed and perfused with a suspension containing 1 × 10(6) motile spermatozoa, with or without LNG. Following 4-hour incubation, the tubes were sectioned to separate the isthmus and the ampulla. Each segment was flushed and the material was evaluated to quantify the number of motile sperm, the number of spermatozoa adhering to the oviductal epithelium and the acrosome reaction (AR) rate. RESULTS: The addition of LNG did not significantly alter the number of recovered motile spermatozoa either at the isthmus or at the ampulla, nor did it have any effect on the number of recovered spermatozoa adhered to the human tubal epithelium. Furthermore, LNG did not affect the AR rate. No significant differences were found even when the side on which ovulation occurred was taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: In a similar dose to that observed in serum following oral intake for EC, LNG had no effect on the number of motile spermatozoa recovered from the human fallopian tubes in vitro, on their adhesion to the tubal epithelium, distribution or AR rate. The possible effect of LNG as EC on sperm function remains poorly understood. BioMed Central 2012-01-30 /pmc/articles/PMC3395846/ /pubmed/22289514 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-7827-10-8 Text en Copyright ©2012 Hermanny et al; BioMed Central Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
spellingShingle Research
Hermanny, Alexia
Bahamondes, M Valeria
Fazano, Francisco
Marchi, Nadia M
Ortiz, Maria Elena
Genghini, Maria Heloisa RR
Croxatto, Horacio B
Bahamondes, Luis
In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes
title In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes
title_full In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes
title_fullStr In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes
title_full_unstemmed In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes
title_short In vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes
title_sort in vitro assessment of some sperm function following exposure to levonorgestrel in human fallopian tubes
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3395846/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22289514
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-7827-10-8
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