Journal of Andrology
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Published-Ahead-of-Print April 8, 2010, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.109.009860

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Vasectomy Affects Cysteine-Rich Secretory Protein (CRISP1) Expression Along the Human Epididymis and its Association with Ejaculated Spermatozoa Following Vasectomy Surgical Reversal

Christine Legare , Luc Boudreau , Veronique Thimon , Michel Thabet , and Robert Sullivan *

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: robert.sullivan{at}crchul.ulaval.ca.

The epididymis is essential for the acquisition of sperm fertilizing ability and forward motility. After vasectomy, the flux and composition of the epididymal fluid are modified, causing possible sequelae to the occluded excurrent duct. Some of these sequelae may not be reversible following vasovasostomy, affecting sperm physiology and their fertilizing ability. We previously demonstrated that the epididymal expression in men of a major glycoprotein secreted by the epididymis, CRISP1, and its encoding mRNA are affected by vasectomy. In this study we showed that following vasectomy, the increase level of CRISP1 is not due to a secretory defect but to its accumulation in the intraluminal compartment of the cauda epididymidis. Western blots analyses were performed to determine the amount of CRISP1 associated with spermatozoa of men who had undergone surgical vasectomy reversal. Spermatozoa of vasovasostomized men are characterized by a significant increase (P<0.05) CRISP1 levels when compared with normal donors. There was no linear correlation between CRISP1 levels and the period of time elapsed between vasectomy and vasovasostomy. CRISP1 was also present in seminal plasma of normal and vasovasostomized men, but not in vasectomized individuals. Soluble concentration of CRISP1 was significantly higher (P<0.05) in seminal plasma of vasovasostomized men when compared with normal men. Knowing that one of the proposed functions of CRISP1 is to modulate sperm capacitation, we evaluated the level of tyrosine protein phosphorylation of two AXAP proteins of the fibrous sheath; p81 and p105. Spermatozoa of vasovasostomized men were characterized by a 50% increase of protein tyrosine phosphorylation when compared to normal men (P<0.05). Our results are discussed with regards to the fertilizing ability of ejaculated spermatozoa of some vasovasostomized men.


Key words: Epididymis • Semen • Sperm • Vasectomy • Vasovasostomy






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