The Association of Mass and Individual Sperm Motil-ity with Abnormal Sperm Morphology

Background: Sperm motility is believed to be one of the most important parameters in evaluating the fertilizing ability of ejaculated sperm, and fertilization rates of human oocytes in vitro have been shown to correlate closely with sperm motil-ity. Both sperm motility parameters and percent normal mor-phology are significant factors in predicting fertilization and pregnancy rates. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the sperm motility and abnormal sperm morphology.Materials and Methods: Testis samples were obtained from 45 rams. The viability and abnormal morphology parameters of the cauda epididymal sperm were assessed by means of the Eosin-Nigrosin stain method. The viability and sperm abnor-malities were assessed by counting 300 sperm cells in a micro-scope at 1000× magnification, using immersion oil. The cauda epididymal sperm motility was assessed in a light microscopy at 400× magnification at 37ºC. A computer-assisted sperm motility analysis (CASA) was used to analyse sperm motility. Results: According to the statistical analysis, significant corre-lations were found between coiled principal piece and end piece of tail and mass motility (P<0.01) and mass motility and indi-vidual motility (P<0.01). Also, significant positive correlation existed between live sperm and detached head (P<0.01), coiled principal piece and end piece of tail and coiled midpiece of tail (P<0.01), slender head and macro cephalic (P<0.01), pyriform head and twin head (P<0.05).Conclusion: Observation of individual and mass motility and estimation of the percentage of progressively motile sperm will provide information about sperm membrane integrity, as well as the morphologic integrity of spermatozoa. In conclusion, in this study mass motility correlated significantly with coiled princi-pal piece and end piece of tail and individual motility.

Keywords:

Sperm Motility , Abnormal Sperm , Morphology , CASA , Epididymal Sperm