Number Of Spermatozoa In Ejaculate Research Articles

Relationship between semen quality and human sperm penetration of zona-free hamster ova

Spermatozoa from 22 presumably fertile donors and from the male partners of 43 infertile couples were evaluated for their ability to fertilize zona pellucida-free hamster ova. All "fertile" donors gave positive results ion the interspecies in vitro fertilization test; 26% of the male partners (patients) gave negative results. Correlations of in vitro fertilization rates and standard semen analysis results indicate that, except for extremely low semen values, sperm fertilizing capacity in vitro could not be predicted accurately from ejaculate sperm number, motility, or morphology. Sperm motility evaluation agreed better with in vitro fertilization test results than did either sperm number or morphology; however, 9 of 31 patients (29%) with normal sperm motility in the ejaculate were judged subfertile in vitro. Also, although higher in vitro fertilization rates were related to greater numbers of normal parameters in a semen sample, 8 of 25 male patients (32%) appraised as "normal" according to the usual semen analysis yielded below-normal in vitro fertilization results. These results support the idea that deficient sperm fertilizing capacity often is a characteristic of poor-quality semen. However, deficiencies in fertilizing capacity also were observed in patient semen samples with excellent properties. Therefore, the interspecies in vitro fertilization test might be useful as an additional tool in clinical investigations of the fertility of the male partners of childless couples, particularly in cases in which infertility continues for no readily apparent reason.

Recovery of Spermatozoa from Human Vaginal Washings

Sperm survival, in terms of numbers, motility, viability, and metabolic activity, was studied in vaginal washings obtained daily from 22 healthy, fertile, married women during one complete menstrual cycle. The numbers of sperm (counted on Papanicolaou-stained filters) were never large compared to the number of sperm in a single ejaculate. Forty-eight hours after intercourse, only 6% of the specimens showed any evidence of sperm. Motile sperm were observed in only six of 94 postcoital specimens examined within 12 hours after intercourse. Lack of sperm in specimens collected after reported intercourse was associated with contraceptive practices other than the rhythm method, which most of the subjects were using. Fluorochromatic studies of recovered sperm treated with acridine orange indicated sperm viability and phase contrast studies of sperm treated with tetrazolium salts revealed metabolic activity. Our data on sperm motility, numbers, and staining reactions support the conclusion that the small number of sperm that remain in the vagina after intercourse quickly become inactivated.

Sperm granulomas: an adverse effect of vasectomy.

This study performed at The Johns Hopkins medical institutions in Baltimore was the first long-term research concerning the incidence and mechanism of formation of sperm granulomas in rats following vas ligation. Both prepubertal and adult male rats were used in the experiments. Observation of more than 100 vasectomized rats showed sperm granuloma formation invariably occurs after vasectomy. Experimental results tended to eliminate the possibilities that leakage of sperm at the operation or suture material was a predisposing factor in granuloma formation. 6 months following vasectomy the average weight of a granuloma was .3-.7 gm. A typical lesion at this time contained massive accumulations of intact spermatozoa; thus it is thought that after vasectomy sperm are incompletely reabsorbed by the epididymis. At 6 months a typical granuloma contained 20-200 times the number of sperm in a single ejaculate of the rat. It was noted that size of the granulomas could eventually decrease with time. The typical life of an area of granulomatous inflammation began with an accumulation of large masses of sperm bordered by a rim of epithelioid histiocytes which was rimmed by a perivascular accumulation of round cells. The whole lesion was limited by a fibrous capsule. Then the lesion seemed to progress to a pyogenic granuloma many polymorphonuclear neutrophils moving into the sperm mass. The central mass was destroyed and histiocytic response with active phagocytosis of sperm was more pronounced. A classical granuloma resulted a smaller lesion with large numbers of epithelioid histiocytes with Langhans giant cells. The reabsorption of sperm in granuloma formation may trigger alterations in the animals immunology. Sperm are known as strong autoantigens.