EFFECT OF IONS ON THE METABOLISM OF EJACULATED AND EPIDIDYMAL RAM SPERMATOZOA

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Abstract
The effects of potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphate ions on the metabolism of ejaculated and epididymal ram spermatozoa have been studied. Respiration and fructolysis were measured and isotopically labelled fructose was used to assess the contribution of fructose oxidation to total oxygen uptake. Potassium and phosphate ions significantly increased both respiration and fructolysis; magnesium and calcium had much less influence and there were few significant interactions between the ions tested. The most significant effect of washing spermatozoa free of seminal plasma was the reduction in the oxidation of substrates other than fructose. Washing also tended to accentuate the effects of other treatments. There were differences between ejaculated and epididymal spermatozoa in the response of oxidative metabolism to potassium but, in general, the metabolic patterns of these cells were similar.