An electron microscope study of the axonemal ultrastructure in human spermatozoa from male smokers and nonsmokers.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate possible abnormalities or deterioration of the sperm axonemal ultrastructure in men who have smoked a large quantity of cigarettes (> 20 per day) for a prolonged period.


METHODS
Semen specimens were collected by patients via masturbation; qualitative characteristics of the sperm were assessed and ultrastructural analysis of the sperm axoneme was performed using standard operating procedures for electron transmission microscopy.


METHODS
The Andrology Institute of Lexington, Lexington, Kentucky, and the Department of Histology and Embryology, University of Salonika, Greece (collaborative effort).


METHODS
Twenty-nine men (mean age +/- SD, 30.7 +/- 2.1 years) who smoked a mean (+/- SD) of 30.7 +/- 2.1 cigarettes per day for 10.7 +/- 0.7 years and 15 men who never smoked (mean age +/- SD, 30.4 +/- 2.2 years) participated in this study.


METHODS
Ultrastructural organization of the sperm axoneme in male smokers and nonsmokers.


RESULTS
Changes in the number and the arrangement of axonemal microtubules were noted in the smoker group when compared to the nonsmoker group. The incidence of axonemal abnormalities was higher in spermatozoa from smokers compared with that in spermatozoa from nonsmokers.


CONCLUSIONS
Smoking a large quantity of cigarettes per day, under the conditions of the current study, severely affected the ultrastructure of the flagellum and, more specifically, it affected the axoneme of the human spermatozoon.
Zavos
P M
PM
Andrology Institute of Lexington, Kentucky 40523, USA.
Correa
J R
JR
Karagounis
C S
CS
Ahparaki
A
A
Phoroglou
C
C
Hicks
C L
CL
Zarmakoupis-Zavos
P N
PN
D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008870:Microtubules / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013076:Sperm Count; D013082:Sperm Tail / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure