Effect of human sperm exposure to progesterone on sperm-oocyte fusion and sperm-zona pellucida binding under various experimental conditions

In this study, the effect of human sperm exposure to progesterone on sperm/oocyte fusion, using the hamster egg penetration test, and on sperm/zona pellucida (ZP) binding, using the hemizona assay, was investigated under various experimental conditions. A brief exposure of human spermatozoa to progesterone exerted a stimulatory effect on sperm/oocyte fusion which was dose-dependent, capacitation-dependent, influenced by the source of serum albumin in capacitating medium, and was higher than that produced by the exposure to progesterone from the onset of capacitation. The exposure of capacitated spermatozoa to progesterone during 20 min-spermatozoa/ZP-coincubation produced an enhancement of ZP-binding, which was not significantly influenced by the source of serum albumin in capacitating medium. A significantly lower ZP-binding was exhibited by spermatozoa exposed to progesterone from the beginning of capacitation. These results indicate that progesterone exerts a stimulatory effect on human sperm's fertilizing ability, which occurs mainly in post-capacitation events directly involved in sperm/oocyte fusion and in ZP-binding. Conditions optimizing these effects are provided. They should be taken into account in the standardization of experimental and clinical studies designed to evaluate the response of human spermatozoa to progesterone.