Evaluation of acrosome on Papanicolaou-stained sperm and its relationship to the in vitro fertilizing capacity of human spermatozoa.
Papanicolaou-stained sperm smears from 1150 ejaculates evaluated from infertility clinic patients and 166 ejaculates in an in vitro fertilization program were studied for the presence of acrosomal abnormalities. Morphologically, a normal acrosome was defined as a sperm having a ratio of 1:1 to 2:1 between the acrosome and postacrosomal part in an oval or round, uniformly shaped head. Acrosomal abnormality was identified in at least a few of the spermatozoa in all the ejaculates (range 8-98%) and appeared to be closely related to normal sperm morphology (r = 0.85). A significantly higher (p less than 0.01) correlation (r = 0.31) was noted between the presence of normal acrosome and in vitro fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa as compared to other standard semen characteristics. Acrosome can be identified on Papanicolaou-stained smears, and since it appears to be related to fertility it may be beneficial to evaluate the acrosome morphologically during routine semen analysis.
D000177:Acrosome / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling