Abstract
THE biological formation of hydrogen peroxide has often been postulated in the past, particularly in connexion with the presumed function of catalase and peroxidase; but so far its actual detection has been successful only in cultures of some bacteria1,2,3 and some moulds4,5 and in certain enzymic oxidations catalysed in vitro and requiring molecular oxygen for the oxidation of their respective substrates. The chemical identification of H2O2 as a product of metabolic processes of animal tissues has up to now been unsuccessful. Indirect evidence for H2O2 formation during respiration of bovine spermatozoa in egg-yolk medium has been submitted in a previous communication6, and some evidence of its possible formation in human sperm has been given7. Using suspensions of washed spermatozoa in presence of a substance separated from egg-yolk, we have now been able to demonstrate chemically the formation of hydrogen peroxide.
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TOSIC, J., WALTON, A. Formation of Hydrogen Peroxide by Spermatozoa and Its Inhibitory Effect on Respiration. Nature 158, 485 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/158485a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/158485a0
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