Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Tissue Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technologies, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Reprod Sci. 2022 Mar;29(3):695-710. doi: 10.1007/s43032-021-00520-7. Epub 2021 Apr 14.
Spermatozoa should travel throughout the female reproductive tract to reach its ultimate goal, fertilization of the oocyte. At the ejaculation moment, millions of sperm within a few milliliters of the ejaculate are deposited at the cranial segment of vagina and make their journey to the fertilization site. This is done by means of various factors, such as sperm motility, the uterine and fallopian tubes contractility, and the ciliary movement of the lining cells. During this migration, spermatozoa interact with the female microenvironment both physically and molecularly. In this regard, the quality of the environmental conditions may affect this interaction. Therefore, some alterations in women's genital tract microenvironment, such as conditions that occur in female reproductive disorders, may have detrimental effects on sperm reproductive function. In this review, human sperm migration through the female tract is described, and the potential effects of different reproductive disorders at reproductive organs, such as vagina, uterine cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovary on sperm survival and quality, are also argued. The understanding of those conditions that may impair sperm fertility in the female genital tract can provide a more accurate diagnosis of the causes of infertility in couples. This can ultimately lead to the discovery of effective treatment approaches.
精子应通过女性生殖道到达其最终目标，即卵母细胞的受精。在射精时刻，几毫升精液中的数百万精子沉积在阴道的颅侧段，并开始向受精部位移动。这是通过多种因素实现的，例如精子的运动能力、子宫和输卵管的收缩能力以及衬里细胞的纤毛运动。在这种迁移过程中，精子与女性微环境发生物理和分子相互作用。在这方面，环境条件的质量可能会影响这种相互作用。因此，女性生殖道微环境的一些改变，如女性生殖障碍中发生的情况，可能会对精子的生殖功能产生不利影响。在这篇综述中，描述了人类精子通过女性生殖道的迁移，并讨论了生殖道不同部位（如阴道、子宫颈、子宫、输卵管和卵巢）的不同生殖障碍对精子存活和质量的潜在影响。了解可能损害女性生殖道中精子生育能力的情况，可以更准确地诊断夫妇不孕的原因。这最终可以导致发现有效的治疗方法。
