Condorelli Rosita A, Calogero Aldo E, Russo Giorgio I, La Vignera Sandro
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Department of Surgery, Urology Section, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
J Clin Med. 2020 Feb 3;9(2):406. doi: 10.3390/jcm9020406.
The aim of this experimental study was to evaluate whether infertile patients may benefit from the evaluation of bio-functional sperm parameters in addition to the conventional semen analysis. To accomplish this, we evaluated the correlation between conventional and bio-functional sperm parameters based on their percentile distribution in search of a potential threshold of these latter that associates with conventional sperm parameter abnormalities. The study was conducted on 577 unselected patients with infertility lasting at least 12 months. We identified cut-off values according to the median of the population for mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), number of alive spermatozoa, and chromatin abnormality. High MMP (HMMP) (≥46.25%) was associated with sperm concentration, sperm count, progressive motility, and normal form. Low MMP (LMMP) (≥36.5%) was found to be associated with semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive motility, total motility, and normal form. The number of alive spermatozoa (≥71.7%) was associated with sperm concentration and progressive motility whereas abnormal chromatin compactness (≥21.10%) was associated with sperm concentration, total sperm count, and progressive motility. The data would suggest that, for every increase in the percentile category of sperm concentration, the risk of finding an HMMP≤46.25 is reduced by 0.4 and by 0.66 for a total sperm count. This risk is also reduced by 0.60 for every increase in the percentile category of sperm progressive motility and by 0.71 for total sperm motility. Each increment of percentile category of the following sperm parameter was followed by a decrease in the risk of finding an LMMP≤36.5: sperm concentration 1.66, total sperm count 1.28, sperm progressive motility 1.27, total sperm motility 1.76, and normal form 1.73. Lastly, the data showed that, for every increase in the percentile category of total sperm count, the risk of finding an abnormal chromatin compactness ≤21.10 is reduced by 1.25 (1.04-1.51, < 0.05) and an increase of total sperm motility is associated with a reduced risk by 1.44 (1.12-1.85, < 0.05). Results suggest a correlation between bio-functional and conventional sperm parameters that impact the sperm fertilizing potential. Therefore, the evaluation of bio-functional sperm parameters by flow cytometry may be useful to explain some cases of idiopathic male infertility.
本实验研究的目的是评估除了传统精液分析外，不孕患者是否能从生物功能精子参数评估中获益。为实现这一目的，我们基于传统和生物功能精子参数的百分位数分布来评估它们之间的相关性，以寻找与传统精子参数异常相关的后者的潜在阈值。该研究对577例未经挑选、不孕时间至少12个月的患者进行。我们根据人群中位数确定了线粒体膜电位（MMP）、活精子数量和染色质异常的临界值。高MMP（HMMP）（≥46.25%）与精子浓度、精子计数、前向运动能力和正常形态相关。低MMP（LMMP）（≥36.5%）与精液量、精子浓度、总精子数、前向运动能力、总运动能力和正常形态相关。活精子数量（≥71.7%）与精子浓度和前向运动能力相关，而染色质紧密性异常（≥21.10%）与精子浓度、总精子数和前向运动能力相关。数据表明，精子浓度百分位数类别每增加一级，发现HMMP≤46.25的风险降低0.4，总精子数降低0.66。精子前向运动能力百分位数类别每增加一级，该风险降低0.60，总精子运动能力降低0.71。以下精子参数百分位数类别每增加一级，发现LMMP≤36.5的风险随之降低：精子浓度1.66，总精子数1.28，精子前向运动能力1.27，总精子运动能力1.76，正常形态1.73。最后，数据显示，总精子数百分位数类别每增加一级，发现染色质紧密性异常≤21.10的风险降低1.25（1.04 - 1.51，<0.05），总精子运动能力增加与风险降低1.44（1.12 - 1.85，<0.05）相关。结果表明生物功能和传统精子参数之间存在相关性，这些参数会影响精子的受精潜力。因此，通过流式细胞术评估生物功能精子参数可能有助于解释某些特发性男性不育病例。
