Acoustoelectronics Laboratory, Georgi Nadjakov Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72, Tzarigradsko Chaussee Blvd., 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Research Department, Medical Center Neovitro OOD, 20, Petko Y. Todorov Blvd., 1408 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Reprod Biol. 2023 Sep;23(3):100793. doi: 10.1016/j.repbio.2023.100793. Epub 2023 Aug 18.
Obtaining spermatozoa with progressive motility, via postejaculatory activation with pharmacological agents such as theophylline and pentoxifylline, is crucial for the success rate of assisted reproduction in couples with severe male factor infertility. Regrettably, the possibility of premature acrosome reactions and impared oocyte function questions the practical applicability of phosphodiesterase inhibitors. The rapid development of nanotechnologies promotes the use of hydrophobic rapeseed oil soot as a non-cytotoxic biomaterial for sperm motility activation, but the scarcity of knowledge regarding the interactions of soot with components from the seminal plasma hinders the eventual commercialization of this cutting-edge approach. Aiming to eliminate this shortcoming, the current study shows for the first time how the soot nanomaterials alter the biochemistry of human seminal plasma. Upon 270 min incubation with soot nanoparticles, the activity of AST, ALT, CK, LDH and GGT enzymes in the seminal plasma of ten patients changes inversely to the registered sperm motility (i.e., lower enzyme activity, higher sperm motility and vice versa). This phenomenon is primarily related to termination of the enzymes-substrate binding or extraction of enzymes from the gametes via chemical bonding with the soot. These novel mechanisms depend on the physicochemical features of used carbon nanomaterials, revealing opportunities for predictable tuning of the sperm reproductive potential.
通过使用茶碱和己酮可可碱等药理学制剂进行射精后激活来获得具有前向运动能力的精子，对于严重男性因素不育夫妇的辅助生殖成功率至关重要。遗憾的是，磷 酸二酯酶抑制剂存在提前发生顶体反应和损害卵子功能的可能性，这限制了其实际应用。纳米技术的快速发展促进了将疏水性油菜籽油烟灰作为非细胞毒性生物材料用于精子运动激活的应用，但由于对烟灰与精液成分相互作用的了解甚少，阻碍了这一前沿方法的最终商业化。为了消除这一缺点，本研究首次展示了烟灰纳米材料如何改变人精液的生物化学特性。在与烟灰纳米颗粒孵育 270 分钟后，10 名患者精液中的 AST、ALT、CK、LDH 和 GGT 酶的活性与记录的精子运动能力呈反比变化（即，酶活性越低，精子运动能力越高，反之亦然）。这种现象主要与酶-底物结合的终止或通过与烟灰的化学键合从配子中提取酶有关。这些新的机制取决于所使用的碳纳米材料的物理化学特性，为可预测地调节精子生殖潜能提供了机会。
