SPERM MOTILITY AND FERTILIZATION

Sperm motility is a key function in the process of fertilization. Sign ificant gaps in the knowledge of the mechanisms of control and modulat ion of sperm motility still remain. It is well known that the percenta ge of motile sperm is correlated with fertility in vivo but the recent development of assisted reproductive technologies and the extensive u se of objective methods to assess sperm movement in vitro indicate tha t the quality of sperm movement is important too for fertilization. Ho wever, the exact pattern of motility characteristics to fulfill fertil ization in vitro and in vivo are not clearly established essentially b ecause of the lack of multiparametric and controled studies in vitro a nd prospective studies in vivo. There is also presently no evidence fo r an improvement of fertility when using different pharmacological app roachs to increase sperm motility in vitro. Therefore, further efforts are required to improve our basic knowledge of the relations between sperm motility and fertilty with the aim to adapt and apply it to the problem of male infertility.