Abstract
Summary
The metabolism of human spermatozoa in Ringer-glucose is almost exclusively glycolytic and not respiratory. Aerobic lactic acid production is 80% of the anaerobic and falls off with time whereas anaerobic glycolysis is linear over a period of many hours. Maximal motility is maintained for many hours under anaerobic conditions but shows a marked tendency to decrease in air or in pure O2. This suggests that the presence of O2 has an inhibiting effect on the normal function of human spermatozoa.
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