The effect of kallikrein on spermatozoal ATP and other semen parameters.

Kallikrein promotes the release of kinins, which have been shown in in vitro studies to improve motility, viability and metabolism in human spermatozoa. The effects of kallikrein therapy on 25 males attending an infertility clinic was assessed, regarding endogenous spermatozoal ATP content, as well as other semen parameters. Thirteen of the 25 patients showed an improvement in either count, morphology, motility, viability, or a combination of these, after 3 months Kallikrein therapy. ATP levels in responders dropped by 58.8% (p less than 0.001). In nonresponders ATP levels did not change significantly. This indicates that improvement in spermatozoal parameters corresponds with increased ATP consumption, following Kallikrein therapy.

Extraction and estimation of ATP from human spermatozoa.

This study attempts to provide guidelines for the extraction and estimation of ATP from spermatozoa. The conditions of extraction of ATP from spermatozoa using trichloroacetic acid were optimized. The efficiency of this extraction procedure was compared to that using boiling Tris buffer. Three commercially available kits which use the firefly luciferase assay for ATP and two luminometers were evaluated for the measurement of the spermatozoa extracts. Elevated levels of Mg2+ and/or Ca2+ did not interfere with the extraction of ATP by trichloroacetic acid or with the subsequent estimation of the nucleotide.