OBJECTIVE: To determine, with the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the proportion of patients with permanent unexplained asthenozoospermia (<30% motility) who have an abnormality of sperm axonemal and periaxonemal structures. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: A university-affiliated public hospital. PATIENT(S): Sixty-one infertile men whose semen was submitted to TEM analysis because of persistent unexplained asthenozoospermia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The results of quantitative TEM analysis of the tails of the spermatozoa. INTERVENTION(S): None. RESULT(S): Based on a comparison with the axonemal anomalies observed in nine fertile control patients, the infertile population was divided into three groups: group I, with no detectable axonemal defects (26.2%); group II, with axonemal anomalies in either the midpiece or the principal piece (29.5%); and group III, with axonemal anomalies in both the midpiece and the principal piece (44.3%). However, defects in the mitochondrial sheath, fibrous sheath, and sperm head (acrosomic and postacrosomic cap) were observed in at least 50%, 30%, and 50%, respectively, of the patients in each group. The proportion of dense fiber anomalies of the midpiece increased significantly from group I to group III. No differences were observed between the three groups in sperm characteristics, anamnesis information, or clinical data. CONCLUSION(S): In patients with persistent unexplained asthenozoospermia, the frequent association of periaxonemal anomalies with axonemal deficiencies strongly suggests that axonemal deficiencies are not the unique cause of decreased motility.
OBJECTIVE: To determine, with the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the proportion of patients with permanent unexplained asthenozoospermia (<30% motility) who have an abnormality of sperm axonemal and periaxonemal structures. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: A university-affiliated public hospital. PATIENT(S): Sixty-one infertile men whose semen was submitted to TEM analysis because of persistent unexplained asthenozoospermia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The results of quantitative TEM analysis of the tails of the spermatozoa. INTERVENTION(S): None. RESULT(S): Based on a comparison with the axonemal anomalies observed in nine fertile control patients, the infertile population was divided into three groups: group I, with no detectable axonemal defects (26.2%); group II, with axonemal anomalies in either the midpiece or the principal piece (29.5%); and group III, with axonemal anomalies in both the midpiece and the principal piece (44.3%). However, defects in the mitochondrial sheath, fibrous sheath, and sperm head (acrosomic and postacrosomic cap) were observed in at least 50%, 30%, and 50%, respectively, of the patients in each group. The proportion of dense fiber anomalies of the midpiece increased significantly from group I to group III. No differences were observed between the three groups in sperm characteristics, anamnesis information, or clinical data. CONCLUSION(S): In patients with persistent unexplained asthenozoospermia, the frequent association of periaxonemal anomalies with axonemal deficiencies strongly suggests that axonemal deficiencies are not the unique cause of decreased motility.
Authors: Karim Nayernia; Ibrahim M Adham; Elke Burkhardt-Göttges; Jürgen Neesen; Mandy Rieche; Stephan Wolf; Ulrich Sancken; Kenneth Kleene; Wolfgang Engel Journal: Mol Cell Biol Date: 2002-05 Impact factor: 4.272