FEMALE AGE DOES NOT AFFECT THE CAPACITY OF HUMAN ZONA-PELLUCIDA TO BIND SPERMATOZOA

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of female age on the capacity of the zona pellucida to bind spermatozoa. A total of 100 8 unfertilized oocytes obtained from 210 women (aged 21-43 years) part icipating in the in-vitro fertilization programme were tested using a hemizona assay. Spermatozoa taken from a cryopreserved pool of fertile donor specimens served as a control in the hemizona assay, and were u sed to assess the ability of the zona pellucida to bind spermatozoa, T he mean +/- SD number of spermatozoa attached to the hemizona was 107 +/- 42. The binding capacity of different oocytes from the same cohort varied substantially (coefficient of variation = 28%). Age was not fo und to be correlated with the number of spermatozoa bound to the zona pellucida (r = -0.02; P > 0.1). It was concluded that female age has n o role in the ability of the human zona pellucida to bind spermatozoa.