A Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (scsa): Background Snalysis Of Azoospermic Semen, Validity Of Snap Freezing Semen Prior To Assay, And The Between-ejaculate Variability Seen With Donors

The sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) was applied to human sperm, and factors affecting its routine operation investigated. The findings indicated that(a) non-sperm cells in semen can contribute to the results of the SCSA, (b) snap freezing in liquid nitrogen does not affect the result of the SCSA and is a good way of storing semen prior to testing, (c) there is good reproducibility when snap freezing several straws suggesting that they remain representative of the original sample, (d) two donors produced semen samples over many weeks which invariably gave the same clinical information, and (e) there was a significant correlation between the DNA fragmentation index and the number of sperm in the ejaculate.