In vitro and in vivo motility studies of 99mTc HM-PAO labelled sperm cells.

The motility of 99mTc HM-PAO radiolabelled sperm cells, labelled as described previously (Balogh et al., 1992) was studied. The active migration of spermatozoa was demonstrated in capillary tubes containing bovine oestrous mucus, using an in vitro motility analyzer. Like nonlabelled sperm cells, the labelled spermatozoa covered a 4-5 cm distance in the capillary tubes during a 10-min run. In vitro motility testing of labelled spermatozoa from different animal species (cattle, rabbit, sheep, horse) did not reveal significant differences. The distribution of spermatozoa within the female genital tract was studied in a previously described animal model (rabbit) and in two new models (sheep, chicken). This method enables the determination and visualization of sperm distribution by a noninvasive technique. The results of in vivo motility tests pave the way for the introduction of a method of unprecedented specificity, which serves for studying the penetrability of the oviduct to spermatozoa.