Objective: To study the vitronectin expression in human spermato-zoa and its role in fertilization. Methods: Spermatozoa from 14 fer-tile and 8 infertile men with normal semen data were studied. Follow-ing recovery of motile populations by swim-up, spermatozoa were ca-pacitated and immunostained with rabbit anti-human Vn polyclonal an-tibody and goat anti-rabbit IgG-FTTC second antibody. The percentageof spermatozoa expressing Vn was determined using a FAScan flowcytometer. Meanwhile, the fertilizing ability of capacitated spermato-zoa was determined with human spermatozoa zona-free hamster eggpenetration assay (SPA). Results: The mean ± s proportion ofspermatozoa expressing Vn of fertile men was 21.24% ± 11.70% and3.64±3.27% for infertile men (P 10%, but that in the infertile group ,< 10%. There is a correlation between positive sperm Vn expressionand percentage of eggs penetrated (r=0.476). Conclusion: Theseresults indicate the
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