title: Hypoosmotic swelling test in the prediction of male fertility.
abstract: The hypoosmotic swelling test (HOS) is a simple test to measure the functional competence of human sperm membranes. The question is, does a relationship exist between this competence and the fertilization potential of human spermatozoa? In this study the strongest correlation (r = 0.76) was obtained between sperm swelling and sperm viability (supravital staining). Only a moderate correlation (r = 0.50) was obtained with normal sperm morphology; weaker correlations were also obtained with the sperm penetration assay (r = 0.42) and human IVF (r = 0.24). The results, therefore, indicate that the HOS test has a limited predictive value. Notwithstanding this low concordance between sperm swelling and fertilizing potential, a less than 50% HOS test threshold was seen to be a definite indicator of a male factor.
authors.affiliation: Infertility Clinic, Tygerberg Hospital, South Africa.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Coetzee
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menkveld
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lombard
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Swanson
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*