title: [Initial exploration of epididymal sperm nuclear maturity in obstructive azoospermia patients].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To ascertain the epididymal sperm nuclear maturity in obstructive azoospermia (OA) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 81 infertile males from andriatry clinic of Renji hospital were selected, including 32 OA patients (OA group) and 49 asthenospermia patients (asthenospermia group). Another 32 fertile males were recruited for the control group. All semen samples of the asthenospermia and control groups underwent computer aided semen analysis (CASA). For the OA group, sperm specimens were collected by percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) and semen analyses completed by manual method. Further acridine orange test and aniline blue stain assay were performed. The results were processed with SPSS 15.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No statistically significant differences existed in semen volume and sperm density between the asthenospermia and control groups (both P > 0.05). The OA group was significantly lower than the control group in sperm density (P < 0.01). The asthenospermia and OA groups were also significantly lower than the control group in sperm motility (both P < 0.01). As to the percentage of grade a + b sperm, the asthenospermia group was also significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.01). Compared with the control group (81% ± 9%, 85% ± 8%), the negative rate of acridine orange test and aniline blue assay of OA (57% ± 20%, 64% ± 20%) and asthenospermia group (62% ± 19%, 67% ± 15%) were statistically lower (all P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The sperm nuclear maturity is lower in the asthenospermia and OA groups than that in the control group. Male fertility should be further improved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hong-xiang
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Tan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yi-xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yi-ran
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000165:Acridine Orange; D000328:Adult; D053713:Azoospermia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus; D004822:Epididymis; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000503:physiopathology; D013076:Sperm Count; D013079:Sperm Maturation; D053625:Sperm Retrieval; D013094:Spermatozoa
chemical_list: D000165:Acridine Orange