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Metabolic Strategy in Mammalian Spermatozoa and Oxidative Stress

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Studies on Men's Health and Fertility

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Abstract

The ability of sperm to display motion and to propel itself in vivo and in vitro is highly dependent on its capability to produce ATP. Maintenance of sperm motility is not only dependent on the normal function of the contractile proteins of the axoneme and its ability to generate ATP, but also on the availability of metabolic substrate in the female reproductive tract. Metabolic enzymatic activities in sperm have kinetic properties similar to those of muscle cells. Although ATP-utilizing enzymes in these two types of cells are very different at a molecular level, they both produce contractile force. This suggests that sperm’s metabolic machinery is designed to produce energy for the contractile work of motility with only minor amounts being consumed in other reactions, including those involved in the process of fertilization. The preferential conversion of glucose to lactate through glycolysis may be an important evolutionary feature of sperm, perhaps intended to minimize the accumulation of reducing equivalents in the mitochondria and subsequent increase in oxygen radical production.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Male Infertility, Centro Androgen, C/Fernando Macias 8, 1°C, 15004, La Coruña, La Coruña, Spain

    Juan G. Alvarez MD, PhD

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  1. Juan G. Alvarez MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Juan G. Alvarez MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Urology, Cleveland Clinic, Euclid Avenue 9500, Cleveland, 44195, Ohio, USA

    Ashok Agarwal

  2. Faculty of Science and IT, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Newcastle, University Drive 1, Callaghan, 2308, New South Wales, Australia

    R. John Aitken

  3. , Department of Male Infertility, Centro Androgen, C/FERNANDO MACIAS 8, 1ºC, La Coruña, 15004, La Coruña, Spain

    Juan G. Alvarez

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Alvarez, J.G. (2012). Metabolic Strategy in Mammalian Spermatozoa and Oxidative Stress. In: Agarwal, A., Aitken, R., Alvarez, J. (eds) Studies on Men's Health and Fertility. Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-776-7_10

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