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METABOLISM OF SPERMATOZOA AND COMPOSITION OF FLUID COLLECTED FROM THE RETE TESTIS OF LIVING BULLS

Summary.: A technique for collecting spermatozoa and fluid directly from the testis of the living bull is described. Rete testis fluid was secreted at a mean rate of 12·0 ml/100 g of testis/day and spermatozoa were present at a mean concentration of 92 x 10⁶ cells/ml. Chemical analyses have been made on rete testis fluid and its constituents compared with those of blood plasma from the same bulls. The fluid is iso-osmotic with blood plasma and contains less sodium, calcium, magnesium, inorganic phosphorus and protein but more potassium, chloride and glutamic acid. The concentration of urea and lactic acid was similar in rete testis fluid and blood plasma. Testosterone and androstenedione were found in the fluid of one mature bull at a concentration of 2·7 and 1·7 µg/100 ml of fluid, respectively.

High concentrations of phosphate (80 mM) depress the respiration and glycolysis of ejaculated spermatozoa but stimulate that of testicular spermatozoa. In low phosphate diluent (20 mM), testicular spermatozoa converted a higher percentage of the utilized glucose to carbon dioxide than ejaculated cells and, under all conditions of incubation, accumulated more lactic acid in the media than could have arisen from the glucose utilized. There was no evidence of pentose-shunt activity in either testicular or ejaculated spermatozoa.