Nifedipine modifies plasma membrane functional integrity and inhibits osmosensitive calcium influx in human sperm / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of nifedipine of therapeutic dosage on the plasma membrane functional integrity and osmosensitive calcium influx in human sperm in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sperm samples were aseptically obtained from 10 healthy fertile men by masturbation and prepared by swim-up technique to produce a spermatozoal solution of high motility. The solution was then incubated with nifedipine of 20, 100 and 20 x 10(3) ng/ml respectively at 37 degrees C in vitro. The hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test was done to assess the sperm function. Intracellular calcium concentration was measured by fluorescent probe fura-2/AM before and after sperm medium dilution in distilled water.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The 20 x 103 ng/ml group showed significantly lower HOS scores than the control (P < 0.01). The 20, 100 and 20 x 10(3) ng/ml groups all showed significantly lower Ca2+ fluorescence D-value than the control (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Nifedipine can modify plasma membrane functional integrity and inhibit osmosensitive calcium influx in human sperm and affect male fertility in vitro in therapeutic dose.</p>