Concentration of cations in different parts of male reproductive system and their influence on <i style="">in vitro</i> sperm motility in lizard, <i style="">Mabuya carinata </i>Schneider.

Abstract

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="metricconverter"> Concentrations of mono- and divalent cations in the testis, three different regions of the epididymis and the vas deferens of lizard, <i style="">M. carinata</i> were determined. The concentrations of Na⁺,K⁺ and Ca²⁺increased gradually from testis to vas deferens. However, no significant variation in the levels of Mg²⁺ was observed between testis and anterior epididymis, and between posterior epididymis and vas deferens. Further, in an <i style="">in vitro </i>sperm motility study, wherein different concentrations of the cations were tested, the maximum forward progressive motility of posterior epididymal spermatozoa was observed following treatment with 140 m<i style="">M</i> NaCl, 25 mM KCl, and 50 m<i style="">M</i> CaCl₂ whereas, treatment with magnesium brought about a decrease in sperm motility. The results indicate that<i style=""> </i>Na⁺,K⁺, and Ca²⁺ have stimulatory effect at an optimum dose, whereas Mg²⁺ has an inhibitory effect even at very low concentration, on sperm motility in the lizard <i style="">M. carinata</i>. </smarttagtype>