Frequency of disordered zona pellucida (ZP)-induced acrosome reaction in infertile men with normal semen analysis and normal spermatozoa-ZP binding.
Results of zona pellucida (ZP)-induced acrosome reaction (AR) are reported for 186 normospermic men with unexplained infertility and compared with 34 normal fertile men and 54 patients with disordered ZP-induced AR (DZPIAR) diagnosed after failure of standard IVF. For each ZP-induced AR test, four oocytes that failed to fertilize in IVF were incubated for 2 h with 2x10(6)/ml motile spermatozoa. Spermatozoa tightly bound to the ZP were recovered by aspirating the oocytes with a pipette and the AR assessed using pisum sativum agglutinin labelled with fluorescein. The standard deviation of the difference was 5.2% for repeated tests for ZP-induced AR on different ejaculates from 54 men. The ranges for the ZP-induced AR were 3-98% for normospermic infertile men, 24-95% for fertile men and 0-16% for DZPIAR patients. In the normospermic group, there was a significant correlation between ZP-induced AR and sperm concentration (Spearman r = 0.238, P < 0.001). Using ZP-induced AR < or =16% as the threshold for diagnosis of DZPIAR, the frequency of this condition in normospermic infertile men would be 25%. Thus DZPIAR is common with normospermic idiopathic infertility and this condition should be diagnosed before assisted reproductive technology since it requires intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
Liu
D Y
DY
University of Melbourne Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Reproductive Services, Andrology Laboratory, Royal Women's Hospital and Melbourne IVF, Victoria 3053, Australia. dyl@unimelb.edu.au
Clarke
G N
GN
Martic
M
M
Garrett
C
C
Baker
H W
HW
D020101:Acrosome Reaction; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D019793:Fluorescein; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000503:physiopathology*; D037102:Lectins; D008297:Male; D037121:Plant Lectins; D012661:Semen / Q000502:physiology*; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013084:Sperm-Ovum Interactions; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000502:physiology*
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D037102:Lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins; C036292:pea lectin; D019793:Fluorescein