Biology of Reproduction, Vol 14, 202-211, Copyright © 1976 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

The Fertilizing Capacity of Spermatozoa from Rats and Mice Treated with CL-88,236 and AY-22,352 as Examined Both in vivo and in vitro

¹ Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545

The fertilizing ability of epididymal spermatozoa from rats and mice treated with various doses of CL-88,236 and AY-22,352 was tested in vitro or in vivo by intrauterine insemination. None of the eggs were fertilized in either test system by spermatozoa from rats treated daily with 14.7 mg CL-88,236 or 50.5 mg AY-22,352/kg/day for 3 to 4 days. At lower doses, significantly fewer eggs were fertilized in vitro and in vivo by spermatozoa from rats treated daily with 0.88 to 8.8 mg CL-88,236 for 3 to 4 days, and in vitro or in vivo by spermatozoa from rats treated with 8.4 to 25.3 mg AY-22,352/kg/day for 3 days as compared with the number of eggs fertilized in the corresponding control. In the mouse, daily treatment with approximately 88.4 mg CL-88,236/kg/day was required to inhibit the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa as judged by in vitro tests. By contrast, the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa in vivo was not reduced by spermatozoa from mice that received even 353.6 mg CL-88,236/kg/day for 3 days. But daily treatment of mice with more than 10.1 mg AY-22,352/kg/day reduced significantly the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa in vitro and in vivo.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was supported by a grant (HD 03472) from the U.S. Public Health Service, a grant from the Ford Foundation, and a small contract from the Human Reproduction Unit, World Health Organization. One of us (M.C.C.) is a Research Career Awardee (K6-HD-18,334) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Thanks are due to Dr. E. C. DeRenzo of Lederle Laboratories for the supply of CL-88,236, to Dr. U. K. Banik of Ayerst Laboratories for the supply of AY-22,352 and to Mrs. Rose Bartke for assistance.