[Ultrastructural abnormalities of spermatozoa in infertile male patients and their implications in fertilizing capacity in vitro].
The purpose of this study was to clarify the relation between ultrastructural abnormalities of spermatozoa and the fertilizing capacity of the spermatozoa in vitro. The infertile male patients who underwent in vitro fertilization were divided into two groups: the no fertilization group (NFG, n = 20) and the fertilization group (FG, n = 18). Morphological features of the spermatozoa in the two groups were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). 1) The percentage of normal heads in the FG was significantly higher than that in the NFG (27.9 +/- 15.4% vs 9.6 +/- 13.3%, p less than 0.001). The percentage of abnormal acrosomes (62.3 +/- 16.4% vs 78.9 +/- 17.6%, p less than 0.01) and nuclear defect of spermatozoa (14.5 +/- 7.2% vs 24.9 +/- 13.3%, p less than 0.01) in the FG was significantly lower than that in the NFG. 2) The percentage of normal tails in the FG was significantly higher than that in the NFG (64.9 +/- 20.2% vs 47.7 +/- 18.9%, p less than 0.05). The percentage of deleted peripheral microtubules was significantly lower in the FG (9.3 +/- 5.9% vs 15.8 +/- 9.4%, p less than 0.02). 3) Three effective variables, normal heads, deleted peripheral microtubules, and nuclear defects, were selected by the forward selection method to discriminate the two groups. The discriminant analysis by means of these three variables showed that apparent accuracy was 84%. The present study demonstrated that the ultrastructural analysis by TEM makes it possible to show more precisely the abnormalities of acrosomes and tails of spermatozoa. This may be useful in evaluating the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa in male infertility.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Akita University School of Medicine.
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Matsui
D000328:Adult; D005298:Fertility / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D013077:Sperm Head / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*