MAGNOLOL PROTECTS HUMAN SPERM MOTILITY AGAINST LIPID-PEROXIDATION - ASPERM HEAD FIXATION METHOD

It was previously reported that magnolol, isolated from the Chinese me dicinal herb Magnolia officinalis, had a potent inhibitory activity on lipid peroxidation. Since sperm motility could be suppressed by lipid peroxidation, this study examines the protective effect of magnolol o n lipid peroxidation-suppressed sperm motility. FeSO4 was used to indu ced lipid peroxidation and sperm motility was expressed as tail beat f requency (TBF) measured with a sperm head fixation method. Magnolol at 10(-9) to 10(-7) M significantly reversed the FeSO4-suppressed TBF. M agnolol significantly inhibited the generation of malondialdehyde (MDA ), the end product of lipid peroxidation, in sperm. Magnolol protected sperm motility by inhibiting lipid peroxidation in sperm.