Flow cytometry analysis of sperm quality in sub‑fertile men

Česká verzia

Authors: Zuzana Krátká ¹; Štěpánka Luxová ¹; Viktor Vik ²
Authors place of work: Imunologická laboratoř GENNET, s. r. o., Praha ¹; Andrologie a urologie GENNET, s. r. o., Praha ²
Published in the journal: Ces Urol 2017; 21(4): 289-298
Category: Original Articles

Summary

Objective:
Overview of sperm quality data measured by flow cytometry.

Material and method:
800 sub‑fertile men (aged 21–66 years) were treated at GENNET – assisted reproduction centres. 366 patients had normal results and 434 patients had pathological parameters of semen analysis. Flow cytometry analyses of apoptotic sperm were done in all patients. DNA fragmentation rate was measured by TUNEL assay in 65 samples. The acrosome integrity was measured in 213 samples. Two groups of patients were set according to the number of apoptotic sperm in the semen samples – ApoHigh group included samples with > 50 % of apoptotic sperm and ApoLow group included samples with < 50 % of apoptotic sperm.

Results:
16.9 % of normal semen samples were ApoHigh as well as 53.9 % pathological semen. Higher average values of DNA fragmentation were detected in the ApoHigh group than in the ApoLow group both in normal semen (24.0 % vs. 13.5 %) and in pathologic semen too (33.3 % vs. 18.0 %). Higher average values of the acrosome integrity were detected in the ApoHigh group than in the ApoLow group both in normal semen (40.2 % vs. 23.9 %) and in the pathologic samples as well (53.1 % vs. 35.2 %).

Conclusion:
The presence of apoptotic sperm decreases the semen quality. The examination of apoptosis, DNA fragmentation and acrosome integrity together with microscopic semen analyses provide a better diagnostic tool how to identify sub‑fertile men, than simple semen analysis. These tests might be helpful for selection of patients for further uro‑andrological examination and treatment.

Keywords:
Apoptosis, DNA integrity, fertility, men, sperm quality.

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