The Claim

Spermatozoa from the low-motility L45 fraction exhibit 2.4-fold higher cholesterol and 6.6-fold higher desmosterol levels compared to high-motility L90 fraction sperm, and demonstrate an inability to increase membrane fluidity during capacitation, which is correlated with reduced tyrosine phosphorylation and impaired hyperactivation.

Source: High cholesterol content and decreased membrane fluidity in human spermatozoa are associated with protein tyrosine phosphorylation and functional deficiencies.

What the research says

Supports is higher

Support is ahead, but a single strong opposing study can change this.

Supports
44score
Challenges
0score

These are independent scores, not a percentage. Higher-grade studies count more, so a single strong opposing study can outweigh several weaker ones.

How it works
1 study reviewed
In plain English

Sperm that don't swim well have much more cholesterol and a related molecule called desmosterol than good swimmers, and they can't make their outer membrane more flexible when they're getting ready to fertilize an egg — this seems to be linked to weaker chemical signals and less powerful movement.

See the scientific wording

Spermatozoa with poor motility (L45 fraction) have 2.4-fold higher cholesterol and 6.6-fold higher desmosterol than high-motility sperm (L90 fraction), and fail to increase membrane fluidity during capacitation, which correlates with reduced tyrosine phosphorylation and hyperactivation.

What the research says

1 study
  1. Study: High cholesterol content and decreased membrane fluidity in human spermatozoa are associated with protein tyrosine phosphorylation and functional deficiencies.

    Sperm that swim poorly have too much cholesterol and a related molecule in their outer membrane, which makes the membrane too stiff. This stiffness stops them from doing the changes they need to fertilize an egg, which is why they don’t swim well.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting studies

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