Effects of Diethylstilbestrol Administration on Sperm Penetration into the Inner Perivitelline Layer of Japanese Quail, Coturnix japonica

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of diethylstilbestrol (DES) administration on sperm penetration into the inner perivitelline layer (IPL) of ovum, and the interaction between sperm and ovum in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). DES was used as a model of endocrine disrupters in this experiment. We employed the in vitro penetration test, and the in vitro competition assay which was used to detect the interaction between sperm and ovum. Male and female quail were intramuscularly injected with 1mg of DES for 3 days. When sperm and IPL derived from DES-treated quail were incubated with untreated IPL and untreated sperm, respectively, the number of holes formed in the IPL resulting from sperm penetration were 42.5±5.3 and 48.3±6.2 per 1mm2. The values were significantly lower than that of control group without DES treatment (119.1±2.7). In a series of assay from pre-incubation of untreated chicken sperm (cS) with DES-treated solubilized qIPL to co-incubation with a sheet of untreated cIPL, the number of holes in the untreated cIPL was 107.3±46, whereas the number of holes in the untreated cIPL was significantly reduced to 25.5±2.3 when cS was pre-incubated with untreated solubilized qIPL. These results suggest that administration of DES into male and female quail caused an impairment of penetrability of sperm and receptivity of ovum to sperm, and thereby resulted in the disorder of the fertilization system in quail.

Keywords

• diethylstilbestrol
• inner perivitelline layer
• quail
• sperm penetration