An in-vitro assay using human spermatozoa to detect toxicity of biologically active substances

Sci Rep. 2019 Oct 10;9(1):14525. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50929-z.

Abstract

Identifying the key toxic players within an in-vivo toxic syndrome is crucial to develop targeted therapies. Here, we established a novel method that characterizes the effect of single substances by means of an ex-vivo incubation set-up. We found that primary human spermatozoa elicit a distinct motile response on a (uremic) toxic milieu. Specifically, this approach describes the influence of a bulk toxic environment (uremia) as well as single substances (uremic toxins) by real-time analyzing motile cellular behavior. We established the human spermatozoa-based toxicity testing (HSTT) for detecting single substance-induced toxicity to be used as a screening tool to identify in-vivo toxins. Further, we propose an application of the HSTT as a method of clinical use to evaluate toxin-removing interventions (hemodialysis).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / blood
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hydronephrosis / blood
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Kinetics
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nephrosclerosis / blood
  • Polycystic Kidney Diseases / blood
  • Renal Dialysis
  • Solvents / chemistry
  • Sperm Motility*
  • Spermatozoa / drug effects*
  • Toxicity Tests*
  • Toxins, Biological / toxicity*
  • Uremia / therapy*

Substances

  • Solvents
  • Toxins, Biological