[Application of flow cytometry to the evaluation of semen quality].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the role of flow cytometry in semen assessment.


METHODS
Semen samples from 104 infertile male patients (as the case group) and 10 fertilized donors (as the control group) were analyzed for the volume of ejaculate and sperm concentration, motility and atypical morphology by computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA), the viability, chromatin structure and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of the sperm stained by SYBR-14/PI, AO and JC-1 respectively, and assessed with flow cytometry. The results were analyzed through SAS software.


RESULTS
U tests indicated that the semen from the infertile patients had not only lower concentration (U = 2.51, P = 0.0143), lower motility (U = 3.44, P = 0.001) and higher rate of atypical morphology (U = -5.88, P < 0.0001), but also lower viability (U = 4.72, P < 0.0001), MMP (U = -2.53, P = 0.0309), and chromatin integrity (alpha t: U = -3.82, P = 0.0003; SD alpha t: U = -3.98, P = 0.0001; COMP alpha t: U = -3.57, P = 0.0005). The multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that sperm motility was positively correlated with sperm membrane integrity (t = 1.66, P = 0.1016), sperm MMP (t = 3.33, P = 0.0014) and sperm acrosome integrity (t = 3.24, P = 0.0019), while sperm MMP was negatively correlated with the rates of sperm neck and tail defects (t = -3.44, P = 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Flow cytometry plays a significant role in the evaluation of the quality of human sperm, and can be adopted as a useful tool in the diagnosis and treatment of male infertility.
Hua
Yong
Y
Central Laboratory of the Orient Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, Shanghai 200120, China. Jessicca-SHE@tom.com
Qian
Xian-ming
XM
Chen
Bing-guan
BG
Yang
Jian-hua
JH
Wu
Xiao-yun
XY
Ma
Liang
L
Chen
Cui-ling
CL
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D002843:Chromatin / Q000473:pathology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008875:Middle Aged; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*
D002843:Chromatin