{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,20]],"date-time":"2026-06-20T14:52:56Z","timestamp":1781967176812,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,20]],"date-time":"2022-07-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1658275200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Veterinary Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>After the copulation process, some sperm start the long journey with an ultimate goal of fertilizing the oocyte. Inside the oviduct, sperm are stored, waiting for the ovulated oocyte where they bind to the apical surface of the oviduct cells, which in turn hold sperm to form a sperm nest. The essential functions of the sperm reservoir include attaching spermatozoa to oviduct epithelial cells, selecting intact, good-quality sperm with an end result of extending sperm life expectancy. The current study aimed to evaluate the fertilization ability of sperm that bind to cell aggregates from different parts of the oviduct (infundibulum-ampulla-isthmus), and to assess the effect of heparin and or progesterone (P4) on the in-vitro fertilization ability of sperm co-incubated with cell aggregates from the isthmus. In-vitro fertilization was identified as a cleaved oocyte to two cells or more. The sperm bound to cell aggregates from the isthmus improved the rate of in-vitro fertilization (48.09%) compared to aggregates from the infundibulum (36.90%) and ampulla (37.61%). Moreover, pre-treatment of mature COCs with heparin (40 \u03bcg\/mL) and P4 (80 nanomolar) play a coactive role that improves the in-vitro fertilization ability of sperm bound to cell aggregates from isthmus (63.33%), compared to 42.61% in the absence of cells aggregates. In conclusion, binding to cell aggregates from isthmus improves the in-vitro fertilization ability of Bovine sperm. Additionally, heparin, together with P4, exerts a synergistic action that improves the in-vitro fertilizing potential of sperm attached to cell aggregates from the isthmus of the bovine oviduct.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vetsci9070372","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,22]],"date-time":"2022-07-22T03:58:44Z","timestamp":1658462324000},"page":"372","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Heparin and Progesterone Exert Synergistic Effects to Improve the In-Vitro Fertilization Rate of Bovine Sperm Bound to Oviduct Cell Aggregates from the Isthmus"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Mohamed M. M.","family":"El-Sokary","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Benha 13511, Egypt"},{"name":"Veterinary Medicine & Food Security Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi 17155, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seham F.","family":"Shehata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Wealth Development, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Benha 13511, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karima G. M.","family":"Mahmoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Reproduction & AI, National Research Center, Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"634","DOI":"10.1016\/S0015-0282(16)58581-1","article-title":"The relationship between acridine orange fluorescence of sperm nuclei and the fertilizing ability of human sperm","volume":"66","author":"Hoshi","year":"1996","journal-title":"Fertil. Steril."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1066","DOI":"10.1095\/biolreprod53.5.1066","article-title":"Characterization of the oviductal sperm reservoir in cattle","volume":"53","author":"Lefebvre","year":"1995","journal-title":"Biol. 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