Correlation among routine semen parameters, sperm viabilty and malondialdehyde levels in human subjects with different fertility potential.

Percentage of viable sperms has good potential to reflect male fertilizing potential. In the present study, an attempt was made to find out the percentage of viable sperms in normal and abnormal ejaculates and influence of reactive oxygen species in affecting the viability of sperm. Malondialdehyde (MDA) in seminal plasma of normal and abnormal ejaculates was measured by Thiobarbituric Acid method and percentage of viable sperms was assessed by Eosin-Nigrosin staining. The results revealed that the abnormal semen samples have significantly lower number of viable spermatozoa (59.06 +/- 9.63% vs. 68.33 +/- 5.46%, P < 0.05) and higher levels of MDA (2.53 +/- 0.66 vs. 1.66 +/- 0.37 nmol/ml, P < 0.05) as compared to normal. A significant negative correlation was found between seminal MDA level and sperm viability. Based on the results obtained from the present study, we suggest that viability of sperm is an authentic parameter to assess male fertility potential and it can be affected significantly by oxidative stress.