Importance of sperm motility after capacitation in interpreting the hamster ovum sperm penetration assay.
Routine semen analysis and a zona-free hamster ovum sperm penetration assay (SPA) were carried out for 220 men from a group of infertile couples. The grade of sperm motility was determined after a preincubation period. For both the normal and abnormal semen samples, the number of positive SPAs was significantly higher when the postcapacitation motility was normal. This difference was observed also when the routine semen characteristics of density, motility, and morphologic features were considered separately regarding their relationship with the SPA. Motility after preincubation showed the most significant positive correlation with the SPA result. Therefore, the SPA score should be limited to semen samples showing adequate postincubation motility.
D000818:Animals; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D013075:Sperm Capacitation; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions