Contribution of defective sperm function to infertility.

The nature and significance of some biologically orientated tests of human sperm function is discussed by the Authors. In particular tests for motility and the fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa are examined, motility tests and the zona-free hamster oocyte penetration test are particularly criticized. The Authors affirm that hamster oocyte tests carried out in the presence of A 23187 have shown to correlate with fertility in vivo and may be of critical value in decreasing the incidence of false negative scores. The data furnished by this test will provide a logical basis for discovering the aetiology of male infertility as well as devising techniques to both detect and treat these conditions.