EFFECTS OF VASOACTIVE INTESTINAL PEPTIDE ON HUMAN SPERM MOTILITY

• Published in: Archives of andrology Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 67 - 71
• Main Authors: Siow, Y, Stokes-Roussell, S, Cook, C, Taylor, S, Goldsmith, L J, Belker, A M, Yoffe, S C, Fallat, M E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Informa UK Ltd 1999; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Adenylyl Cyclases - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Cell physiology; Cyclic AMP - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Male; Molecular and cellular biology; Motility and taxis; Sperm Motility - drug effects; Sperm Motility;Vip; Sperm Tail - drug effects; Sperm Tail - physiology; Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide - pharmacology; Human; Phosphorylation; Spermatozoa; Motility; Vasoactive intestinal peptide; Cyclic AMP; Germinal cell; Axoneme; Protein
• ISSN: 0955-3002; 0148-5016; 1362-3095
• DOI: 10.1080/014850199262742

Sperm flagellar activity is modulated by cAMP. In target tissues, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) stimulates adenyl cyclase activity, which elevates intracellular cAMP levels and activates protein kinase activity. This study investigated the effects of VIP on motility of sperm from 17 subjects. Motile activities, monitored before (0 min, baseline) and for 40 min after incubation with VIP (0.2 mug/mL cell suspension), were analyzed by computer-assisted semen analysis. The data (mean +/- SEM) are expressed as percentages of baseline values and changes were compared by trend analysis for interval level measures by repeated measures analysis of variance orthogonal polynominal contrasts. The addition of VIP significantly increased motile sperm concentration (110 +/- 17% [10 min], 132 +/- 15% [20 min], 152 +/- 18% [30 min], 125 +/- 18% [40 min]; p <. 02) and sperm with rapid straight-line motility (V > 25 mum/s) (167 +/- 20%, 174 +/- 19%, 173 +/- 23%, 141 +/- 16%; p <. 02). Mean track speed (mum/s) was increased (125 +/- 12%, 134 +/- 9%, 129 +/- 12% and 126 +/- 12%; p <. 02), while mean progressive velocity, amplitude of head displacement, and beat frequency were not affected by VIP. These results indicate that VIP stimulates sperm motile activity by cAMP-mediated phosphorylation of axonemal proteins.