The sperm penetration assay (SPA)has some limitations in its interpretation and technique despite its frequent use in the investigation of male infertility. The flow cytometry can be used easily in the evaluation of sperm quality with high
sensitivity
and reproducibility in a short time. This study was designed to evaluated the efficacy of the flow cytometric measurement of sperm chromatin structure in predicting the result of the SPA. The population consisted of 5 fertile men and 12 normo-, 7
oligo-, and 26 asthenozoospermic males of infertile couples. There were significant correlations of α[red fluorescence/(green+red) fluorescence] with ova penetration index, fresh-sperm motility, and washed-sperm motility (r=0.479, r=0.530,
r=0.524,
respectively) (p<0.001). Ova penetration index showed significant correlation with sperm concentration (r=0.305)(p<0.05) and washed-sperm motility(r=0.435)(p<0.01). In comparison of the groups classified with regard to the parameters of sperm
count
and
sperm motility, it revealed that significantly higher αvalue and more cases of low ova penetration index (3 or less) were recorded in groups with low sperm count and/or low sperm motility (P<0.05). In a group showing asthenozoospermia after
sperm
washing, there was a significant correlation of αwith ova penetration index (r=0.396)(p<0.05). Sensitivity and negative predictive of the α in predicting the ova penetration index are 96.0% and 93.3%, respectively. In conclusion, it is
suggested
that
the measurement of sperm head chromatin pattern may represent SPA with relatively high accuracy and can be used in the evaluation of infertile males.
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