A SUBSTANCE ISOLATED FROM CORNUS-OFFICINALIS ENHANCES THE MOTILITY OFHUMAN SPERM

The effects of a Chinese herb, Cornus officinalis, on the motility of human sperm was studied. An aqueous extract was prepared from the drie d fruits of the herb and used in this study. The crude extract at a fi nal concentration of 0.5 mu g/mu l in phosphate buffered saline (pH 7. 4) increased sperm motility from 25.8 +/- 7.7% to 42.8 +/- 10.3% (i.e. 68% increase, n = 7), as determined by the computer-aided-sperm-analy sis (CASA) method. The crude extract was fractionated by high-performa nce liquid chromatography (HPLC) into four fractions: C1, C2, C3 and C 4. Their effects on sperm motility were further studied by CASA. Only the C4 fraction showed substantial stimulatory effects on sperm motili ty. At a concentration of 5 ng/mu l, C4 increased the sperm motility f rom 15.7 +/- 3.8% to 34.5 +/- 6.4% (i.e. 120% increase, n = 6) by CASA and from 14.9 +/- 4.3 to 28.5 +/- 8.1 (i.e. 91% increase, n = 8) by t ransmembrane migration ratio (TMMR) method. This result suggests that C4 is the active component in Cornus officinalis that enhances sperm m otility.