Smoking is associated with the retention of cytoplasm by human spermatozoa.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether cigarette smoking is associated with the abnormal retention of residual sperm cytoplasm in infertile men.


METHODS
Semen samples were obtained from 87 consecutive non-azoospermic men with idiopathic infertility (18 smokers and 69 nonsmokers) and from 20 men presenting for vasectomy (fertile controls). Standard semen parameters and the percentage of spermatozoa with residual cytoplasm (on Papanicolaou smears) were recorded.


RESULTS
Subject age, semen volume, and sperm density, motility, and morphology were not significantly different between the two groups of infertile men. However, a significant difference was found in the mean +/- SEM percentages of sperm with cytoplasm droplets between smokers and nonsmokers (12.9% +/- 1.7% and 8.1% +/- 0.9%, respectively; P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that cigarette smoking is associated with retention of sperm cytoplasmic droplets in infertile men, a morphologic characteristic associated with impaired sperm function.
Mak
V
V
Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jarvi
K
K
Buckspan
M
M
Freeman
M
M
Hechter
S
S
Zini
A
A
D003593:Cytoplasm; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*