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EVALUATION OF THE REMOVAL OF TETRACYCLINE FLUORESCENCE FROM SPERMATOZOA AS A TEST FOR CAPACITATION IN THE RABBIT

Summary.: Removal of tetracycline fluorescence has been suggested as a test for capacitation. In the present study, a comparison is made of the time required to complete capacitation in either the uterus or the Fallopian tube, and the time in which fluorescence is lost from spermatozoa in these organs.

Capacitation requires at least 10 to 11 hr in the Fallopian tube, and a similar period is required for complete capacitation in the oestrous uterus, but tetracycline fluorescence is lost from spermatozoa in these sites within 2 hr, one fifth of the period required for capacitation. Fluorescence is not removed from spermatozoa in the uterus of immature, mature ovariectomized, pseudopregnant or progesterone-treated females, or from spermatozoa in the anterior chamber of the eye, colon or bladder; though partial capacitation occurs to a varying but significant degree in all of these sites.

It is concluded that removal of tetracycline fluorescence from spermatozoa in the female tract is not a visible concomitant of their functional capacitation.