Sperm in the Female Tract - Anatomy & Physiology
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Overview
- There is immediate retrograde loss at the entrance to the cervix/uterus with phagocytosis by leukocytes.
- In the cervix, sperm must travel through privileged pathways. This serves to eliminate non-motile sprem and remove some abnormalities.
- In the Uterus, capacitation is initiated with some phagocytosis occuring.
- In the Oviduct, capacitation is completed and sperm show hyperactive motility.
- At the Uterotubal Junction, the acrosome reaction occurs and the spermatozoon penetrated the oocyte in fertilization with the formation of male and female pronuclei.
Capacitation
Privileged Pathways
- Sperm must travel through the highly convoluted cervix.
- During oestrus, the cervix produces mucus.
- Sialomucin: Low viscosity mucus produced by basal areas of cervical crypts.
- Sulfomucin: More viscous mucus produced in apical portions of the cervical epithelium covering the tips of cervical folds.
- The difference in viscosity of the mucus creates two distinct environments within the cervix.
- Sperm encountering sulfomucin are washed out of the tract.
- Sperm encountering sialomucin swim into it, creating 'privileged pathways' in deeper cervical crypts. Sperm then traverse the cervix through these pathways.
- Thus, the cervix acts as a filter to immotile sperm because in order to survive; the sperm must actively swim into the 'privileged pathways'.