Effect of nitric oxide and its intracellular signal

Nitric oxide (NO), an active and non-stable compound, has been shown to regulate many sperm functions such as acrosome reaction and sperm chemotaxis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of NO and cGMP in the progressive motility of human sperm. After incubation of twenty normozoospermic samples for 90 minutes in the presence of ODQ (soluble guanylate cycles inhibitor), GSNO (NO donor), 8-br-cGMP (cGMP analogue) and ODQ+GSNO, the progressive motility were assessed by CASA system. Data were analyzed using paired t test. Progressive motilities of sperm increased 4.1% in intubation with GSNO at min 90th (p<0.05) and 4% in intubation with 80bromo-cGMP at min 60 (p<0.05). ODQ significantly (p<0.05) decreased progressive motility in the amounts of 10.7% at 30 minutes, 11.2% at 60 minutes and 12.2% at 90 minutes compared with their controls. ODQ+GSNO also significantly (p<0.05) caused to be decreased progressive motility in the amounts of 9.7%, 10.8% and 9.9% orderly at 30, 60 and 90 minutes in comparison to their controls (p<0.05). NO regulates the progressive motility of human spermatozoa via cGMP synthesis.