Value of sperm acrosin activity detection in selecting the method of assisted reproduction for patients with unexplained infertility.
- Author:
Qin SUN
1
;
Hong-Ru LI
1
;
Yuan-Jiao LIANG
1
;
Bing YAO
1
;
Li CHEN
1
Author Information
1. Center of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Region, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210002, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
acrosin activity;
in vitro fertilizationembryo transfer;
sperm;
unexplained infertility
- MeSH:
Acrosin;
analysis;
metabolism;
Embryo Implantation;
Fallopian Tubes;
Female;
Fertilization in Vitro;
methods;
statistics & numerical data;
Humans;
Infertility, Female;
Infertility, Male;
Male;
Pregnancy;
Pregnancy Rate;
Reproduction;
Retrospective Studies;
Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic;
statistics & numerical data;
Spermatozoa;
metabolism
- From:
National Journal of Andrology
2017;23(2):152-156
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the clinical significance of sperm acrosin activity detection in selecting the method of assisted reproduction for patients with unexplained infertility (UI).
METHODS:This retrospective study included 49 UI couples treated by IVFET (49 cycles) after three failures in intrauterine insemination (IUI) and another 95 couples with uterine tube obstruction (UTO) treated by IVF (131 cycles). We analyzed the laboratory data, clinical outcomes and sperm acrosin activity in the two groups of patients. According to the level of sperm acrosin activity of the males, we further divided the UI patients into two subgroups, a < 36 IU/106 sperm group (20 cycles) and a ≥36 IU/106 sperm group (29 cycles), and compared the fertilization rates between the two groups.
RESULTS:Compared with UI couples treated by IVFET, the UTO couples treated by IVF had a significantly lower rate of fertilization (67.0% vs 76.4%, P < 0.05) and a higher rate of remedial intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) (20.4% vs 6.1%, P < 0.05), but showed no statistically significant differences in the rates of MII oocytes, available embryos, highquality embryos, implantation, and clinical pregnancy from the latter group (P >0.05). The sperm acrosin activity was remarkably lower in the UI than in the UTO patients (36.03 vs 61.98 IU/106, P < 0.01), and so was the fertilization rate in the < 36 IU/106 than in the ≥36 IU/106 sperm subgroup (47.7% vs 80.3%, P < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS:The low fertilization rate caused by decreased sperm acrosin activity may be the main cause of infertility and the potential factor of UI. When sperm acrosin activity is < 36 IU/106 sperm, IVF plus shortterm fertilization by remedial ICSI should be preferred to IUI.
