Correlation between Different Patterns of Hypo-Osmotic Swelling and Sperm Functional Tests

BACKGROUND: Sperm membrane integrity is not only important as a barrier between intra- and extra-cellular spaces, but also it can be considered as a sign of DNA integrity. Hypoosmotic swelling test reflects membrane integrity and has been used to evaluate sperm quality. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in adjunct with hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST) has been used for treatment of males with asthenozoospermia. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate correlation of different pattern of HOST with sperm parameters, protamine deficiency and apoptosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, sixteen semen samples were randomly collected from infertile normozospermic men. Semen samples were divided into two portions as follows: one portion was assessed for sperm parameters according toWorld Health Organization (WHO)-2010, while the other portion, after applying HOST procedure, was used for assessment of sperm morphology, protamine deficiency and late or early apoptosis. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Studies (SPSS 11.5). RESULTS: Our results showed that, the lowest odds ratio (OR) of abnormal sperm head morphology and abnormal acrosome was in d-sperm as compared to a-pattern or nonviable spermatozoa (p=0.00, p=0.01). In addition, a significant correlation was observed between d-sperm with sperm concentration and percentage of DNA damage (p=0.03 and p=0.04, respectively). A significant correlation was observed between percentage of sperm motility and DNA fragmentation (r=-0.56; p=0.01). Furthermore, significant correlations were observed between percentages of early apoptotic sperm with protamine deficiency and sperm concentration (p=0.009 and p=0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: Significant correlations exist between d-pattern and sperm DNA integrity. Semen samples with low sperm concentration have low percentage of d-sperm which are mature and intact sperms.