Acrosin activity in spermatozoa of infertile Nigerian males.

The objective of this study was to evaluate acrosin activity in spermatozoa of infertile Nigerian men and to compare with those of the fertile men. The acrosin activity was evaluated using the Acroscreen reagent kit. The acrosin activity of the fertile men was 40.7±5.2 mIU/10(6) sperm (range 30.1-51.3) and those of the infertile men was 22.4±8.33 mIU/10(6) sperm (range 5.7-39.1). The difference in the mean was statistically significant (P<0.001). There was a subpopulation of the infertile men who had their acrosin activity within normal range of the fertile men, 32.9±1.57 mIU/10(6) sperm. But the difference in the mean was statistically significant (P<0.001). Acrosin activity decreased with increased morphological changes in the spermatozoa. It is concluded that acrosin activity in the infertile Nigerian men is significantly lower than that in the fertile men. Acrosin activity may also be affected by morphological changes in the spermatozoa.