[Effect of cervical mucus on zona induced acrosome reaction of human spermatozoa].

Zona induced acrosome reaction of human spermatozoa was examined by FITC labelled PSA staining. When human spermatozoa were incubated with salt stored human eggs for 6 hours, the percentage of acrosome reacted spermatozoa was 35.7 +/- 17.7%. The zona induced acrosome reaction rate was significantly higher than that of the spontaneous acrosome reaction (2.8 +/- 1.9%). These date indicate that the zona pellucida of the human egg have the ability to induce the acrosome reaction as in other mammalian zona. Additionally the effect of cervical mucus on the acrosome reaction was examined. Spermatozoa which passed through the cervical mucus were collected and examined for the rate of spontaneous and zona induced acrosome reaction. The rate of spontaneous acrosome reaction was almost the same as the control, but the rate of zona induced acrosome reaction (51.6 +/- 6.8%) was significantly higher than that of the control (25.6 +/- 9.4%). These data suggest that spermatozoa appear to complete capacitation by passing through cervical mucus.