Studies on frequency of Y chromatin in human sperm.
The preparation and evaluation of human ejaculate smears on cover glasses enables double-sided examination of the individual sperm heads in the fluorescence microscope. By this method of observation the frequency of Y chromatin in the ejaculates of 19 probands increased significantly to between 1.7 and 6.3%. However, the frequency of 50% Y chromatin-positive sperms theoretically to be expected is not found by applying this technique. Furthermore, sexual abstention of at least 14 days leads to a statistically significant decrease of the frequency of Y chromatin. These observations could explain why the data on Y chromatin frequency reported in the literature appear so inconsistent.
D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D012728:Sex Chromatin / Q000032:analysis*; D012746:Sexual Abstinence; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000032:analysis*