The proportion of human sperm with poor morphology but normal intact acrosomes detected with Pisum sativum agglutinin correlates with fertilization in vitro.

Sperm acrosomes were examined with fluorescein-labeled pisum sativum agglutinin in 137 in vitro fertilization treatments. The percentage of sperm with normal intact acrosomes in semen was correlated with sperm concentration, morphology, viability, and motility. The proportion of sperm with normal intact acrosomes was significantly increased by the "swim up" selection from semen. Fertilization rates in the whole group studied were significantly related to percentage normal morphology, concentration of sperm inseminated and cause of infertility. However, with normal morphology less than 30%, the proportion of sperm with normal intact acrosomes in the insemination medium was the only significant factor related to fertilization rate in the logistic regression analysis. Thus, assessment of acrosomes may be of clinical value for predicting the fertility of men with poor sperm morphology.