BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to define the effect of apoptosis on sperm quality and function. METHODS The apoptotic features in sperm were assessed in 60 subfertile subjects, using Annexin-V staining for phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization and Tdt-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay for DNA fragmentation. RESULTS On average, about 45% of the sperm were found to...

Previous studies of sperm from mice heterozygous for a t haplotype (t) and heterospecific combinations of the t complex identified two tightly linked genetic factors responsible for t/t male sterility related to expression of the flagellar waveform aberration, curlicue. Dnahc8, an axonemal dynein heavy chain gene, is a strong candidate for the proximal factor, Ccua, but the identity of the dist...

Osedax is a genus of siboglinid annelids in which the females live on dead vertebrate bones on the seafloor. These females have a posterior end that lies within the bone and contains the ovarian tissue, as well as the "roots" involved with bone degradation and nutrition. The males are microscopic and live as "harems" in the lumen of the gelatinous tube that surrounds the female trunk, well away...

background: anti-sperm antibody (asa) can decrease sperm motility and, therefore, it is a cause of male infertility. the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of varicocelectomy on anti-sperm antibody in patients with varicocele. methods: this observational study was conducted on 90 patients with varicocele at sina and imam khomeini hospitals during 2006 to 2009. all varicocelectomy can...

Motion analysis or quality assessment of human sperm cell is great important for clinical applications of male infertility. Sperm tracking is quite complex due to cell collision, occlusion and missed detection. The aim of this study is simultaneous tracking of multiple human sperm cells. In the first step in this research, the frame difference algorithm is used for background subtraction. There...

The test most commonly used to detect sperm antibodies is the mixed antiglobulin reaction (MAR), standardized by the World Health Organization. The indirect MAR test detects soluble sperm antibodies in seminal plasma by using healthy donor spermatozoa as antigen. In this study we systematically investigated the influence of donor spermatozoa and the source of sperm antibodies upon the results o...

The conventional assessment of human semen is a highly subjective assessment, with considerable intraand interlaboratory variability. Computer-Assisted Sperm Analysis (CASA) systems provide a rapid and automated assessment of the sperm characteristics, together with improved standardization and quality control. However, the outcome of CASA systems is sensitive to the method of experimentation. ...

BACKGROUND Etiology of more than half of Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion. The etiology of more than 50 percent of Recurrent Spontaneous Abortions (RSA) cases has been remained unexplained. It is supposed that RSA may have "paternal effect" due to supply 50% of embryonic genomic content by male gamete. OBJECTIVE The aim of present study was to evaluate the role of sperm apoptosis and protamine ...

In a prospective, blind study, we have examined the relationship among the expression of human sperm surface progesterone receptors, the ability to undergo a mannose-stimulated acrosome reaction and the rate of fertilization in vitro. Individual aliquots of motile spermatozoa were surface-labelled with progesterone and/or mannose-fluoresceinated ligands. Spontaneous acrosome loss and the increa...

Individual spermatozoa were assessed with pairs of probes for persistent histones and cytoplasmic retention, persistent histones and DNA fragmentation, and persistent histones and apoptotic markers. The individual spermatozoa were treated sequentially with combinations of probes for these cytoplasmic and nuclear biochemical markers. Sperm fields were recorded with computer-assisted imaging, and...