Direct effect of macrophage migration inhibitory factor on sperm function: possible involvement in endometriosis-associated infertility

Cédric Carli, Carli C, Pierre Leclerc, Christine N. Metz, Metz CN, Akoum A, Ali Akoum
Fertility and sterility · 2007 · vol. 88(4) , pp. 1240–1247 · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.04.002 · PMID:17658526 · W2034695919
Other OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 18 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This paper investigates the direct impact of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on sperm function, exploring its potential role in infertility associated with endometriosis.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on sperm capacitation, a maturational process that occurs in the female reproductive tract and enables spermatozoa to become fully competent at fertilizing the oocyte. DESIGN: Incubation of Percoll-washed spermatozoa with varying concentrations of human recombinant MIF or fetal cord serum (positive control). SETTING: Human reproduction research laboratories. INTERVENTION(S): Fresh semen samples obtained from healthy volunteers after a minimum of 2 days of sexual abstinence. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Protein tyrosine phosphorylation by Western blotting, the acrosomal status upon binding to the Pisum sativum agglutinin conjugated to fluorescein isothiocyanate, and sperm motility by computer-assisted sperm analysis. RESULTS: MIF displayed a dose-dependent effect on the phosphotyrosine content of p105 and p81, the two major tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins associated with human sperm capacitation. A significant induction of tyrosine phosphorylation was seen at 2 ng/mL of MIF for both p105 and p81, but a trend for a down-regulation of the basal tyrosine phosphorylation level was noted at elevated concentrations (12-24 ng/mL). MIF pretreatment of spermatozoa resulted in a dose-dependent change in the acrosome reaction induced by the Ca(2+) ionophore A23187. After being increased at 1-4 ng/mL MIF with a statistically significant effect observed at 4 ng/mL, the acrosome reaction gradually decreased and fell below the control levels at higher concentrations. Furthermore, a significant decrease in the motility of spermatozoa was observed after exposure to an elevated concentration of MIF (12 ng/mL). CONCLUSION(S): The present data indicate that MIF may play a physiological role in sperm capacitation but may have deleterious effects on sperm function at abnormal pathophysiological levels, which suggests a role in endometriosis-associated infertility.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Infertility, Female Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors Spermatozoa Sperm Capacitation Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Female Humans Humans Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (51)

Cited by (18)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-16T06:09:50.462052+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:04:31.715410+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-06-21T16:06:39.831647+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK