Japanese society of Ova Research

Abstract

Vol.14 No.2

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Effects of Competitive Progesterone Antagonist RU486 on the Penetration of Zona-Free Hamster Eggs by Human Sperm
JMOR, 14(2) 180-182, 1997
DOI: 10.1274/jmor.14.180
Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Kanagawa 252, Japan

Progesterone plays an important role in sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction. In this experiment we examined the effect of a progesterone antagonist, RU486, on the penetration of zona-free hamster eggs by human sperm. Media containing 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 μM RU486 were prepared. In the control medium with-out RU486, the sperm penetration rate was 80.7%. In the medium with 10 μM RU486, the sperm penetration rate was 67.0%. The rate further decreased as the level of RU486 increased. In the medium with 30 μM RU486, the sperm penetration rate was reduced to 4.8%. This study demonstrates that RU486 inhibits penetration of zona-free hamster eggs by human sperm in a dose-dependent manner.

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