Sperm chromosome analysis as a new system to test human X- and Y-sperm separation.

The correlation between the percentage of F-body-positive spermatozoa (F-sperm) and that of Y-chromosome-bearing spermatozoa (Y-sperm) determined by human sperm chromosome analysis was examined after spermatozoa were separated by an albumin column method [Ericsson et al, Nature 246:421-424:1973]. The percentages of F-sperm were 43.1 +/- 4.8 (36.1-48.8) and 45.8 +/- 8.3 (35.3-66.5) before and after separation, respectively. A slight but significant (p less than 0.05) increase in F-sperm after the separation was observed in two semen donors. A total of 570 sperm karyotypes was analyzed and the percentage of Y-sperm ranged from 36.0 to 59.1 with a mean of 47.3. In one semen donor, the percentage of Y-sperm (45.6) was significantly (p less than 0.05) higher than that of F-sperm (35.3) after separation. In the remaining nine semen donors, the results obtained by chromosome analysis corresponded well with those obtained by F-body scoring. The validity of the albumin column method in isolating a Y-sperm-rich sperm population is discussed.