title: Sperm nuclear vacuoles in relation to acrosome reactions and sperm motility.
abstract: We investigated sperm nuclear vacuolation in relation to acrosome reactions and the maintenance of sperm motility. Thirty male patients who visited our Male Infertility Clinic were enrolled. These patients underwent conventional semen analyses, Acrobeads tests, and high-magnification observation of the sperm head to evaluate the degree of nuclear vacuolation on the Acrobeads test scoring after 24 hours of incubation. The presence of acrosome reactions was evaluated using the Acrobeads test. The spermatozoa were classified into three groups: (I) those bound to MH61-beads, (II) motile spermatozoa that did not bind to MH61-beads, and (III) immotile spermatozoa that did not bind to MH61-beads. The percentage of spermatozoa with large nuclear vacuoles (%LNV) was compared between the three groups. The degree of sperm nuclear vacuolation was evaluated in 17,992 ejaculated spermatozoa. The mean %LNVs were 2.4% in group I, 5.8% in group II, and 9.8% in group III. These values were significantly different from each other (P < 0.001, paired t-test). There were no correlations between the %LNV values and the Acrobeads scores. In conclusion, the degree of sperm nuclear vacuolation was significantly lower in the acrosome-reacted spermatozoa and spermatozoa with maintained motility, and higher in the immotile spermatozoa that did not bind to MH61-beads.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Research, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4874-0879
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Komiya
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Research, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawauchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Research, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Research, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2692-0713
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Research, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tanii
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Research, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama-shi, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fuse
mesh_terms: D000177:Acrosome / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013081:Sperm Motility; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000648:ultrastructure*
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