Wergin W P
Scan Electron Microsc. 1985(Pt 3):1191-9.
In ruminants, minor cervical folds, commonly called crypts, temporarily store spermatozoa for a short interval of time between insemination and fertilization. However, the mechanism by which spermatozoa are transported to these crypts and subsequently to the uterus is not known. To study this problem, cervical tissue, which was removed from ewes that were naturally inseminated by rams at estrus, was examined with the scanning electron microscope to determine the physical associations that occur between the spermatozoa and the structural features of the cervix. The study indicates that the spermatozoa generally are not oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cervix, exhibit no consistent association with the cervical cilia, and do not lie in any well defined channels formed by the cervical secretions. Alternatively, the majority of spermatozoa occur as isolated aggregations that lie in or near the shallow folds or crypts of the cervix. The vast numbers of spermatozoa in these aggregations and the lack of any common orientation suggest that some form of external stimulus, such as cervical contractions, might be responsible for the initial mass movement and distribution of spermatozoa in the cervix of the ewe.
在反刍动物中，颈部的小褶皱，通常称为隐窝，在授精和受精之间的短时间内临时储存精子。然而，精子被运输到这些隐窝以及随后进入子宫的机制尚不清楚。为了研究这个问题，对在发情期由公羊自然授精的母羊的颈部组织进行了扫描电子显微镜检查，以确定精子与子宫颈结构特征之间的物理联系。研究表明，精子通常不与子宫颈的纵轴平行排列，与子宫颈纤毛没有一致的联系，也不位于由子宫颈分泌物形成的任何明确通道中。相反，大多数精子以孤立的聚集体形式存在于子宫颈浅褶皱或隐窝内或附近。这些聚集体中大量的精子以及缺乏任何共同的排列方向表明，某种形式的外部刺激，如子宫颈收缩，可能是导致母羊子宫颈中精子最初的大量移动和分布的原因。
