title: Evaluation of sperm fertilizing ability using the Sperm Quality Analyzer.
abstract: The Sperm Quality Analyzer is an inexpensive device which provides a quantitative estimation of sperm motility. To evaluate the fertilizing ability of human spermatozoa using a Sperm Quality Analyzer, correlations amongst the sperm motility index, the sperm penetration index (as assessed using the sperm penetration assay; SPA), and the fertilization rate in the treatment of standard IVF-ET were analysed retrospectively. The sperm motility index demonstrated a significant correlation with sperm concentration (p < 0.001), sperm motility (p < 0.001) and the motile sperm concentration (p < 0.001) in a total of 104 fresh semen samples from 81 men donating samples for IVF-ET. The sperm motility index also showed a significant correlation (p < 0.001) with the sperm penetration index in 60 patients, assessed using the SPA, before they were treated by standard IVF-ET. The correlation between the sperm motility index and the IVF-ET fertilization rate was higher than that between the sperm penetration index and the fertilization rate. The sperm motility index was classified into three categories: 'poor' (sperm motility index < 80), 'medium' (sperm motility index 81-160) and 'good' (sperm motility index > 160). The relationships between the IVF-ET fertilization rate and each category of the sperm motility index values were also evaluated. For the three categories in the sperm motility index, the fertilization rates (76.0%) of 60 samples judged as 'good' were significantly higher than those (44.2%) of 15 samples judged as 'medium' (p < 0.001) and those (34.7%) of 13 samples judged as 'poor' (p < 0.001). These results indicate that the Sperm Quality Analyzer provides a reliable estimation of the fertilizing ability of human spermatozoa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibahara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitsuo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shigeta
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000502:physiology*