The mechanisms and analysis of sperm migration through cervical mucus.

Abstract

The migration of spermatozoa through cervical mucus has been studied extensively by physiologists and clinicians. Yet our understanding of this biological phenomenon remains superficial. This has been due at least in part to a lack of scientific objectivity in the experimental procedures employed, as well as a tendency to rely upon phenomenological thinking rather than fundamental principles of chemistry and physics. In this chapter our attention will be directed initially to the biophysical context within which the mechanisms of sperm transport in cervical mucus should be considered. Our current knowledge of those mechanisms will be summarized, and some of the applicable experimental techniques and mathematical models of analysis will be discussed. Finally, some new strategies for future investigation will be suggested. We will bring the reader’s attention to a number of scientifically sound and biologically relevent studies, but we will not attempt a comprehensive survey of the research in this area. For this information the reader is referred to a number of recent reviews on sperm transport1 and cervical mucus.2,3,4,5 In beginning this chapter it should be emphasized that among mammals it is primarily the ruminants and primates which produce substantial amounts of cervical mucus, and it is to these species that our comments will apply. The human is by far the best studied of these species and most of the specifics of our discussion will refer to human sperm-cervical mucus interaction.