Oxytocin – a stimulator of directed sperm transport in humans

Georg Kunz, D. Beil, Peter Huppert, G. Leyendecker
In: Reproductive BioMedicine Online · 2007 · vol. 14(1) , pp. 32–39 · doi:10.1016/s1472-6483(10)60761-4 · PMID:17207329 · W2099736527
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 7 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study investigated oxytocin's role in sperm transport, finding it stimulates directed movement of sperm in humans.

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

Abstract

Rhythmic peristaltic contractions of the muscular wall of the non-pregnant uterus, as well as rapid sperm transport from the vagina to the Fallopian tubes, have long been documented by means of vaginal sonography and hysterosalpingoscintigraphy. Uterine peristaltic activity reaches a maximum before ovulation and is controlled via oestradiol secretion from the dominant follicle systemically and into the utero-ovarian countercurrent system; it is also enhanced by oxytocin. In this study, the effect of oxytocin and its receptor antagonist atosiban on uterine peristalsis and thus directed sperm transport during the mid and late follicular phases was examined. Atosiban did not show any effect either on frequency or on pattern of the peristaltic contractions. However, oxytocin significantly increased the rapid and directed transport of radiolabelled particles representing spermatozoa from the vagina into the Fallopian tube ipsilateral to the site of the dominant follicle (P = 0.02, 0.04 and 0.02 after 1, 16 and 32 min of documentation respectively). It seems reasonable to assume that oxytocin plays an important, although not critical, role in the mechanisms governing rapid sperm ascension that, at least in humans, were developed to rapidly preserve an aliquot of spermatozoa following intercourse.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood

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. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (84)

Cited by (7)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK