Researchers from the School of Medicine at the Cardiff University are hard at work to produce a protein which they claim would increase the chances of getting pregnant by increasing male fertility. The report published in the online journal Fertility and Sterility says that the ability to fertilize an egg can be triggered by the process.
While the fertilization process starts, one's chances of a successful pregnancy are notably improved, the report says. "For those couples going through IVF treatment, it could ultimately improve their chances of having a baby and treat male infertility", Professor Karl Swann was quoted as saying by Topnews.net.
"We know that some men are infertile because their sperm fail to activate eggs. Even though their sperm fuses with the egg, nothing happens. These sperm may lack a proper functioning version of PLCz, which is essential to trigger the next stage in becoming pregnant," Professor Tony Lai, who led the study with Professor Karl Swann, said in a steatement.
"What's important from our research is that we have used human sperm PLCz to obtain the positive results that we had previously observed only in experiments with mice.
"In the lab we have been able to prepare human PLCz protein that is active. If this protein is inactive or missing from sperm, it fails to trigger the process necessary for egg activation - the next crucial stage of embryo development.
"However, when an unfertilized egg is injected with human PLCz, it responds exactly as it should do at fertilization, resulting in successful embryo development to the blastocyst stage, vital to pregnancy success," he added.
