. 2010 Aug 23;12(6):862–870. doi: 10.1038/aja.2010.25

Table 4. Changes in sterol composition after incubation of spermatozoa with prostatic secretory granules (PSGs) for 6 h at 37°C.

Sterols (nmol per 10⁸ cells)	Control sperm		Spermatozoa challenged with PSGs^a
Sterols (nmol per 10⁸ cells)	0 h	6 h	Spermatozoa challenged with PSGs^a
Desmosterol (D)	140.9 ± 32.6	78.5 ± 14.3^*	109.3 ± 2.9^**
Cholesterol (C)	97.6 ± 11.8	55.6 ± 9.7^*	71.3 ± 5.6^**
Total free sterols	238.6 ± 20.8	134.1 ± 3.6^*	180.6 ± 2.7^**
D/C ratio	1.5 ± 0.5	1.4 ± 1.5	1.6 ± 0.4

Data are mean ± SD (n = 5, pooled semen samples per group).

The amount of PSGs used for the treatment of 10⁸ sperm cells was equal to 0.2 mg of protein.

P < 0.05, compared with the sterol values of control spermatozoa at baseline (0-h).

^**

P < 0.05, compared with the sterol values of control spermatozoa after a 6-h incubation.