Abstract
Sperm motility is known to be activated and maintained by kallikrein contained within the seminal plasma. We studied the relationship between the levels of seminal plasma kallikrein activity and in vitro exogenous kallikrein-induced sperm motility enhancement. Semen samples were collected from Holstein-Friesian bulls and grouped on the basis of the initial total sperm motility into Group I with > 60 % (mean 75.3 ± 1.8 %, n = 25), and Group II with < 60 % (mean 51.2 ± 1.7%, n = 25). Seminal plasma kallikrein activity was measured with the aid of the specific chromogenic substrate S-2266. In Group I the mean activity was 0.983 ± 0.042 μkat/L, and in Group II it was 0.805 ± 0.063 μkat/L (P < 0.05). Then each semen sample was divided into a control and an experimental subgroup treated with 16.7 μkat/L of hog pancreatic kallikrein. Total sperm motility was monitored at 1-h intervals. It was found that the addition of exogenous kallikrein stimulated the sperm motility in both groups but in the 4th h after treatment the difference in sperm motility between the experimental and control subgroups of Group I was 12.4 % whereas in Group II it was 21.7 %. We concluded that adding exogenous kallikrein in vitro to semen samples with lower kallikrein activity in the seminal plasma enhanced total sperm motility more than adding it to ejaculates with higher levels of endogenous kallikrein activity.
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