Zümrütbaş Ali Ersin, Gülpınar Ömer, Mermerkaya Murat, Süer Evren, Yaman Önder
Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
Turk J Urol. 2013 Sep;39(3):165-9. doi: 10.5152/tud.2013.034.
The aim of this study was to determine whether Acridine Orange (AO) can be used as a routine procedure in a physician's office to detect sperm deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation in patients with varicoceles.
Forty-five patients with a mean age of 30.4 years, who had been diagnosed with varicoceles by physical examination and 30 healthy males with a mean age of 28.3 years and without any signs of varicoceles were included in this study. Doppler Ultrasonography was performed to each individual in addition to physical examination. Semen analyses were performed by the same biologist. Sperm morphology was evaluated according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and Kruger's strict criteria. After routine semen analysis, the samples were fixed separately for further examination with AO staining.
In routine semen analyses, total sperm count, total motile sperm count, and fast direct forward motile and direct forward motile sperm counts were significantly lower in patients with varicoceles, and the immotile sperm count was significantly higher in patients with varicoceles compared to the control group. Kruger's examination revealed a lower sperm count with normal morphology in patients with varicoceles. After AO staining, the ratio of spermatozoa demonstrating red and green coloration were 6.5±11.0% and 93.5±11.0%, respectively in the varicocele group and 1.0±1.0% and 99.0±1.0%, respectively in the control group (p<0.001).
Semen analysis using AO staining can be performed under a clinician's office conditions with a fluorescent microscope without any additional equipment. Further studies are needed to validate the AO staining with more extensively used and well-known methods. Therefore, AO staining can be used as a simple and reliable method that can be performed daily in a physician's office in infertility and andrology clinics.
本研究旨在确定吖啶橙（AO）是否可作为医生办公室的常规程序，用于检测精索静脉曲张患者的精子脱氧核糖核酸（DNA）片段化。
本研究纳入了45例平均年龄为30.4岁、经体格检查诊断为精索静脉曲张的患者，以及30例平均年龄为28.3岁、无任何精索静脉曲张体征的健康男性。除体格检查外，对每位受试者均进行了多普勒超声检查。精液分析由同一位生物学家进行。根据世界卫生组织（WHO）标准和克鲁格严格标准评估精子形态。常规精液分析后，将样本分别固定，以便用AO染色进行进一步检查。
在常规精液分析中，精索静脉曲张患者的总精子计数、总活动精子计数、快速直线向前运动和直线向前运动精子计数显著低于对照组，而精索静脉曲张患者的不动精子计数显著高于对照组。克鲁格检查显示，精索静脉曲张患者正常形态的精子计数较低。AO染色后，精索静脉曲张组显示红色和绿色染色的精子比例分别为6.5±11.0%和93.5±11.0%，对照组分别为1.0±1.0%和99.0±1.0%（p<0.001）。
使用AO染色的精液分析可在临床医生办公室条件下，使用荧光显微镜进行，无需任何额外设备。需要进一步研究，以用更广泛使用和知名的方法验证AO染色。因此，AO染色可作为一种简单可靠的方法，可在不孕不育和男科学诊所的医生办公室每天进行。
