Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Wilton, Leeanda J.
• Temple-Smith, Peter D.
• de Kretser, David M.

Titel

Quantitative ultrastructural analysis of sperm tails reveals flagellar defects associated with persistent asthenozoospermia

Ist Teil von

• Human reproduction (Oxford), 1992-04, Vol.7 (4), p.510-516

Ort / Verlag

Oxford: Oxford University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

1992

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Sperm tail morphology was examined in 10 infertile astheno-zoospermic men to determine whether poor sperm motility was caused by ultrastructural defects of the flagellum. In this quantitative analysis, the numbers of outer doublet and central pair mkrotubules, outer and inner dynein arms and radial spokes were counted in transverse sections of 75 axonemes from each patient and compared with similar data previously collected from 10 men with normal semen characteristics. Four patients had axonemal defects: two had severe mkrotubule abnormalities and two had more subtle but statistically significant deficiencies of dynein arms. These abnormalities would not have been detected by more commonly used qualitative examination. Three patients had no detectable ultrastructural abnormalities of the sperm tail, possibly indicating a metabolic deficiency. A further three patients had mid-piece abnormalities. Two had few, if any, flagellar mitochondria and the third patient had irregular and disorganized mitochondria. Quantitative ultrastructural analysis has revealed axonemal abnormalities in seven of 10 patients with previously unexplained asthenozoospermia.