Edgar G. Miller

Electrophoretic Patterns of Seminal Plasma from Some “Abnormal” Human Semens.

Summary Electrophoretic examination of the plasmas from specimens of human semen which were either (1) abnormally viscous or in which (2) the sperm were either poorly motile or non-motile, or which (3) contained no sperm revealed no definitely significant deviation in protein components from normal specimens. Components P1 (proteose), P2 and P3 (globulins) were present in all these specimens as they are in normal ones. Component P2a (globulin), described in an earlier report as being present in occasional normal specimens, was found in some of the abnormal ones also. Normal specimens contain either P4 or P5 (glycoprotein) or both. Component P5 was present in all the abnormal specimens. The absence of P4 from all but one of these is noteworthy, but the varied nature of the abnormality makes interpretation difficult.§

pH Concentration of Intestinal Contents of Dog, with Special Reference to Inorganic Metabolism.:

Ten dogs were fed a normal diet (125 gm. meat, 100 gm. cracker meal, 30 gm. bone ash, 15 gm. lard, 300 cc. water); 3 dogs were fed a diet comparatively high in carbohydrate (25 gm. meat, 150 gm. cracker meal, 30 gm. bone ash, 30 gm. lard, 350 cc. water); 2 dogs were fed a high protein diet (300 gm. meat); and 2 a diet high in fat (50 gm. meat, 50 gm. cracker meal, 30 gm. bone ash, 180 gm. lard). Fifteen dogs were fed a diet which has been shown by Mellanby 3 to produce rickets in young dogs (175 cc. milk, 200 gm. white bread, 2 gm. NaCl). Of these, 4 were also fed 10 cc. of cod-liver oil daily; and 5 were irradiated with ultra-violet light for periods ranging from 40 min. to 3 exposures of 45 min. each on consecutive days. Four to six hours after the last feeding the dogs were killed by intravenous injection of amytal, and the alimentary canal removed. The contents of the stomach, duodenum, 2 ft. sections of the intestine, the caecum, and the colon were obtained and the pH determined. 112 determinations (15 dogs) were made both electrometrically and colorimetrically. In the other determinations the colorimetric method was used. Comparison of the two methods justifies reliance on comparative results as obtained colorimetrically. The average error of the colorimetric method, as compared with the electrometric, was 0.2 of a pH unit; the maximum difference was 0.39, and the minimum 0.1; in every case the error was minus. The average acidities, in terms of pH, are shown in the table. The variations are indicated in the chart. The normal diet showed acidity throughout the tract, with considerable constancy at each level. High fat, protein, or carbohydrate variations caused no notable changes, the results falling within the normal ranges.

Biochemical Studies of Human Semen. III. Factors Affecting Migration of Sperm Through the Cervix.

The viscous mucus which normally fills the canal of the cervix uteri presents a first barrier to the migration of spermatozoa from the vaginal lumen to the upper parts of the tract where fertilization occurs. When a mass of this mucus is exposed to the action of normal seminal fluid, the gross appearance is that of a lysis, with loss of viscosity and disintegration of the mass, apparently due to specific enzymic action. 1 This action is inhibited by the presence in the mucus of notable amounts of pus, leucorrheal cells, etc. When the contact-boundary between normal cervical mucus and a normal semen specimen containing motile sperm is examined under the microscope, there is seen a gathering of sperm at the mucus surface which seems to be greater than can be accounted for merely by random swimming of the sperm. There is no evidence, however, of any attraction-field of the mucus surface exerting any influence on the distribution of sperm in the seminal fluid except in a narrow zone along the contact of the fluid with the mucus. The sperm do not very readily enter the mucus mass, nor do they progress in it, once entered, as rapidly as they do when swimming in a perfectly fluid medium. When one or more have succeeded in penetrating the mucus, what appears to be a small halo of more fluid material in the mucus can frequently be seen about the head of the advancing sperm, suggesting “lysis” of the mucus mass, thus making possible the advance of the sperm. Frequently, when one or more have entered, others follow, like a phalanx of sperm, with very actively lashing tails, following the leaders, oriented in general in the same direction, appearing to move up a “channel” against a vigorous current formed by the swimming-motion of the tails of those ahead; at times several sperm are swept backward and out by this current.