Department of Human Molecular Genetic, Federal Research Center 'Institute of Cytology and Genetics', The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia.
Front Biosci (Schol Ed). 2023 Sep 27;15(3):12. doi: 10.31083/j.fbs1503012.
Analysis of sperm morphology defects (amorphous heads, abnormal acrosome, etc.) is useful for estimating the efficiency of spermiogenesis and sperm maturation. An advanced paternal age (more than 40 years) is associated with decreasing sperm count and reduced motility; however, there is little information on the effect of aging relating to sperm morphological defects. Moreover, searching for stable combinations of certain morphological defects in the same sperm can be useful for better understanding spermiogenesis. The aim of the study was to investigate age-related changes in sperm morphology and the prevalence of certain combinations of sperm morphological defects in men from the general population.
Sperm morphology was assessed in 1266 volunteers from the Russian urban general population in different age groups (18-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-40, and over 40 years old). Two hundred sperm were evaluated from each semen sample (about 250 thousand spermatozoa in total). Sperm defects were classified according to the WHO laboratory manual (WHO, 2010). The total percentage of each sperm defect and the frequency of different combinations of sperm morphological anomalies for each age group were counted. Additionally, a similar analysis was performed for the groups of normospermia and pathozoospermia.
The frequency of coiled and short sperm tails increased in men over 40 years old compared to younger subjects; however, aging did not affect the percentage of morphologically normal sperm. It was shown that the combination of a misshaped head (amorphous, pyriform, and elongated) with a postacrosomal vacuole, acrosome defect, excess residual cytoplasm, or any anomaly of the midpiece or tail in the same spermatozoon were not random combinations of independent solitary defects. The increased frequency of combinations of coiled tails with amorphous, elongated, or vacuolated heads was observed in men older than 40 years. Sperm morphological defects, such as severely deformed heads (pyriform, elongated, and round) were more common in men with pathozoospermia compared to normospermic subjects.
An age-related impairment in sperm morphology was found. Stable combinations of head defects with anomalies in the acrosome, midpiece or tail suggest that these defects may be the result of a general violation in the morphogenetic mechanism.
分析精子形态缺陷（无头、异常顶体等）有助于评估精子发生和精子成熟的效率。高龄（40 岁以上）与精子数量减少和活力降低有关；然而，关于与精子形态缺陷相关的衰老影响的信息很少。此外，寻找同一精子中某些形态缺陷的稳定组合对于更好地了解精子发生可能很有用。本研究旨在调查男性人群中与年龄相关的精子形态变化以及某些精子形态缺陷组合的流行率。
评估了来自俄罗斯城市普通人群的 1266 名志愿者的精子形态，这些志愿者分为不同年龄组（18-19 岁、20-24 岁、25-29 岁、30-34 岁、35-40 岁和 40 岁以上）。每个精液样本评估 200 个精子（总共约 25 万个精子）。精子缺陷根据世界卫生组织实验室手册（WHO，2010 年）进行分类。计算每个年龄组的每个精子缺陷的总百分比和不同精子形态异常组合的频率。此外，还对正常精子症和病理精子症组进行了类似的分析。
与年轻受试者相比，40 岁以上男性的卷曲和短尾精子的频率增加；然而，衰老并没有影响形态正常精子的百分比。结果表明，头部畸形（不规则、梨形和拉长）与顶体后空泡、顶体缺陷、过多残留细胞质或中段或尾部的任何异常在同一精子中的组合不是独立孤立缺陷的随机组合。在年龄较大的男性中观察到卷曲尾巴与无头、拉长或空泡头部的组合频率增加。与正常精子症患者相比，病理精子症患者中更常见严重畸形的头部（梨形、拉长和圆形）等精子形态缺陷。
发现了与年龄相关的精子形态受损。头部缺陷与顶体、中段或尾部异常的稳定组合表明这些缺陷可能是形态发生机制普遍受损的结果。
