INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ANTI-FERTILITY EFFECT OF INTRA-UTERINE DEVICES IN THE EWE

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Abstract
Ovum fertilization after natural mating was inhibited in both oviducts after the insertion of a plastic spiral into one uterine horn. Spermatozoa were found in oviducts of control ewes between 4 and 24 hr after mating, but were almost totally absent from both oviducts of ewes with a spiral in one horn. Sperm numbers in the uterus were relatively low in ''spiral'' ewes. Spirals had these effects both 2 to 4 weeks and 8 to 10 months after insertion. Ova were fertilized in ''spiral'' as well as control ewes after injection of semen into the uterus, but there were fewer accessory spermatozoa in ova from ''spiral'' ewes. After injection of semen into one uterine horn, spermatozoa were found throughout reproductive tracts of ''spiral'' and control ewes, but most spermatozoa in horns containing a spiral were broken into heads and tails. Similarly, when semen was injected into ligated uterine compartments, most spermatozoa recovered 5 hr later from spiral compartments were tailless; most spermatozoa recovered from non-spiral compartments of the same ewes were intact. Spirals inhibited sperm transport following natural mating, and they also promoted spermicidal conditions in the uterine lumen.

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