The assessment of acrosomal status is important in evaluating the ability of sperm to fertilize the egg. The acrosomal status of sperm from 47 normal volunteers with proven fertility and 167 subfertile men with not to achieve pregnancy for at
least
1
year were evaluated with Acrobeads test (FUSO Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd, Japan) using immunobeads coated with MH61 monoclonal antibody, which is specific for acrosome-reacted sperm. The mean±SD of acrobeads score in 47 volunteer group was
2.8±0.7, of which 46 (97.9%) cases were≥2. The mean±SD of acrobeads score in 167 subfertile group was 1.7±0.8, of which 73 (79.3%) cases were≥1. The acrobeads score in subfertile group were significantly lower (r=0.294, p<0.05) than those in
volunteer group. In subfertile group, acrobeads score were well correlated with the sperm density and motility (r=0.275, r=0.281, p<0.01), but not with semen volume (r=0.16) and serum hormone level (FSH r=0.084, LH r=0.036, testosterone r=0.058,
prolactin r=0.006 and estradiol r=0.060) (p>0.05). Of 63 subfertile cases with normozoospermia, 22 (34.9%) cases showed 0 or 1 of acrobeads score, which means to accompany with a functional defect in spite of normal morphology.
As a results, Acrobeads test is not only a technically simple sensitive procedure with good reproducibility in evaluating the sperm fertilizing capacity but also an useful in the evaluation of effectiveness in the treatment of infertility and the
separation of acrosome-reacted sperm in the assisted reproductive technique.
|