Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences for Research, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan.
Syst Biol Reprod Med. 2013 Feb;59(1):13-20. doi: 10.3109/19396368.2012.729174. Epub 2012 Oct 17.
This study compared the sperm nuclear vacuoles and semen quality in the evaluation of male infertility. One hundred and forty-two semen samples were obtained from patients who visited the Male Infertility Clinic at Toyama University Hospital. Semen samples were evaluated by conventional semen analyses and the Sperm Motility Analysis System (SMAS). In addition, spermatozoa were analyzed at 3,700-6,150x magnification on an inverted microscope equipped with DIC/Nomarski differential interference contrast optics. A large nuclear vacuole (LNV) was defined as one or more vacuoles with the maximum diameter showing > 50% width of the sperm head. The percentage of spermatozoa with LNV (% LNV) was calculated for each sample. Correlations between the % LNV and parameters in SMAS and conventional semen analyses were analyzed. Processed motile spermatozoa from each sample were evaluated. The mean age of patients was 35 years old. Semen volume was 2.9 ± 1.6mL (0.1-11.0; mean ± standard deviation, minimum-maximum), sperm count was 39.3 ± 54.9 (x10(6)/mL, 0.01-262.0), sperm motility was 25.1 ± 17.8% (0-76.0), and normal sperm morphology was 10.3 ± 10.1% (0-49.0). After motile spermatozoa selection, we could evaluate % LNV in 125 ejaculates (88.0%) and at least one spermatozoon with LNV was observed in 118 ejaculates (94.4%). The percentage of spermatozoa with LNV was 28.0 ± 22.4% (0-100) and % LNV increased significantly when semen quality decreased. The correlation between the % LNV and the semen parameters was weak to moderate; correlation coefficients were -0.3577 in sperm count (p < 0.0001), -0.2368 in sperm motility (p = 0.0084), -0.2769 in motile sperm count (p = 0.019), -0.2419 in total motile sperm count (p = 0.0070), and -0.1676 in normal sperm morphology (p = 0.0639). The % LNV did not show a significant correlation with the SMAS parameters except for weak correlation to beat/cross frequency (r = -0.2414, p = 0.0071). The percentage of spermatozoa with LNV did not have a strong correlation with parameters in conventional semen analysis and SMAS in the patients with male infertility; however, a certain level of negative influence of LNV to sperm quality cannot be excluded.
这项研究比较了精子核空泡和精液质量在男性不育评估中的作用。从富山大学医院男性不育诊所就诊的患者中获得了 142 份精液样本。通过常规精液分析和精子运动分析系统（SMAS）对精液样本进行评估。此外，在配备 DIC/Nomarski 微分干涉对比光学装置的倒置显微镜下，以 3700-6150x 的放大倍数对精子进行分析。大核空泡（LNV）定义为一个或多个最大直径的空泡，其宽度超过精子头部宽度的 50%。计算每个样本中具有 LNV 的精子百分比（%LNV）。分析了 %LNV 与 SMAS 和常规精液分析参数之间的相关性。评估了每个样本中经过处理的运动精子。患者的平均年龄为 35 岁。精液量为 2.9±1.6mL（0.1-11.0；平均值±标准差，最小值-最大值），精子计数为 39.3±54.9（x10(6)/mL，0.01-262.0），精子活力为 25.1±17.8%（0-76.0），正常精子形态为 10.3±10.1%（0-49.0）。在选择运动精子后，我们可以评估 125 份精液中的%LNV（88.0%），在 118 份精液中观察到至少一个具有 LNV 的精子（94.4%）。具有 LNV 的精子百分比为 28.0±22.4%（0-100），当精液质量下降时，%LNV 显著增加。%LNV 与精液参数之间的相关性为弱至中度；相关系数分别为精子计数为-0.3577（p<0.0001），精子活力为-0.2368（p=0.0084），运动精子计数为-0.2769（p=0.019），总运动精子计数为-0.2419（p=0.0070），正常精子形态为-0.1676（p=0.0639）。除了与跳动/交叉频率呈弱相关（r=-0.2414，p=0.0071）外，%LNV 与 SMAS 参数之间没有显著相关性。在男性不育患者中，具有 LNV 的精子百分比与常规精液分析和 SMAS 参数之间没有很强的相关性；然而，不能排除 LNV 对精子质量有一定程度的负面影响。
