Induction of the human sperm acrosome reaction by human oocytes.

The acrosome reaction of human spermatozoa incubated in the presence or absence of vested human oocytes was investigated. All gametes were obtained from human in vitro fertilization (IVF) cases. Spermatozoa were collected after incubation in insemination medium only and following removal of the oocytes from insemination medium during the IVF procedure. After 16 hours of incubation 18.5% of the spermatozoa in insemination medium alone were acrosome-reacted compared to 31.5% for spermatozoa incubated in medium containing oocytes. The acrosome reaction of spermatozoa incubated with fertilized or unfertilized oocytes was also investigated. The percentage of acrosome reaction did not differ (P greater than 0.05) between the two groups (29.7% in the fertilized cases versus 30.7% in the unfertilized cases). Completion of oocyte nuclear maturation did not affect the proportion of acrosome-reacted spermatozoa observed with unfertilized eggs. A similar (P greater than 0.05) percentage of acrosome reacted spermatozoa were observed regardless of whether the unfertilized oocytes had (29%) or had not (35%) reached metaphase II. These findings indicate the acrosome reaction of human spermatozoa is enhanced in the presence of vested human oocytes. Furthermore, there is no apparent correlation between the percentage of the population of spermatozoa that acrosome react in the medium and the potential of an oocyte for fertilization.