The effects of physiological concentrations of melatonin on motility of spermatozoa from Wistar rats were assessed in vitro. Melatonin had dose-dependent negative effects on sperm forward progression, the quality of sperm motility and on a sperm motility index. Some, but not all of these effects were due to ethanol (0.5% final concentration) which was used as a solvent for melatonin. Addition of ethanol to the incubation medium altered the pH, and increased pH had a significant negative effect on all aspects of sperm motility. Finally, the overlay of oil, which is a routine part of many sperm culture systems, had an ameliorating effect that was probably because of the lipophilic nature of melatonin.
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Gwayi et al. (2002) studied this question.
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