Movements of sodium and potassium into ejaculated boar spermatozoa suspended in seminal plasma and a biological salt solution.

Uptake of 22Na and 42K into ejaculated boar spermatozoa was measured in vitro. Cells were suspended either in seminal plasma or in a biological salt solution of essentially the same composition as boar seminal plasma. Samples were incubated at 30 degrees C. Correction was made for extracellular space in the centrifuged sperm pellet. This was determined as 22Na-space, which was less (P less than 0.001) than [14C] carboxyinulin space. Large differences were observed among individual ejaculates. The half-time for potassium uptake into the spermatozoa averaged 11.5 min, which is much faster than that for leukocytes or erythrocytes. When the spermatozoa were suspended in the biological salt solution, the initial rate of 42K uptake was significantly decreased. This may be due to disturbances of the protein components of the sperm membrane. The uptake of 22Na into the spermatozoa was slow. Sodium and potassium transport appeared not to be coupled in the 3/2 ratio which has been reported for erythrocyte membranes. The average concentration of sodium was 108 mM in seminal plasma and 26 mM in the spermatozoa (112 mmol/kg water and 38 mmol/kg water, respectively). The corresponding figures for potassium were 26 mM and 51 mM (27 mmol/kg water and 74 mmol/kg water). The random error for a single determination for the various methods used varied between 2.4 and 13.3% of the mean.