Clin Exp Reprod Med.  2019 Dec;46(4):147-151. 10.5653/cerm.2019.00458.

Specific tail swelling pattern in hypo-osmotic solution as a predictor of DNA fragmentation status in human spermatozoa

• Kim SW
• Nho EJ
• Lee JY
• Jee BC

• KMID: 2469590
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5653/cerm.2019.00458

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate DNA fragmentation status in human spermatozoa according to specific tail swelling patterns determined via hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST).
METHODS
Frozen semen samples from 21 healthy donors were thawed and prepared by the swim-up technique for use in intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The semen samples were treated for 5 minutes as part of the HOST procedure and then underwent the sperm chromatin dispersion test using a Halosperm kit. DNA fragmentation status (large halo, medium halo, small halo, no halo, or degraded) and the specific tail swelling pattern ("a"-"g") were assessed at the level of a single spermatozoon. A total of 42,000 spermatozoa were analyzed, and the percentage of spermatozoa without DNA fragmentation (as evidenced by a large or medium halo) was assessed according to the specific tail swelling patterns observed.
RESULTS
The HOST examinations showed that >93% of spermatozoa across all types displayed no DNA fragmentation. The percentage of spermatozoa without DNA fragmentation was 100% in type "d", 98.67% in type "g", and 98.17% in type "f" spermatozoa.
CONCLUSION
We found that the type "d" spermatozoa displayed no DNA fragmentation, but the other types of spermatozoa also displayed very low rates of DNA fragmentation. This result may be associated with the processing of the spermatozoa by density gradient centrifugation and the swim-up technique.

Keyword

DNA fragmentation; Infertility; Sperm head; Spermatozoa

MeSH Terms

Centrifugation, Density Gradient
Chromatin
DNA Fragmentation*
DNA*
Humans*
Infertility
Semen
Semen Preservation
Sperm Head
Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic
Spermatozoa*
Tail*
Tissue Donors
Chromatin
DNA