Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Semen Analysis

Here are some comprehensive guides to refer to: Semen Analysis in the Clinical Evaluation of Infertility

Semen analysis

The Fertility Guide: The Male Factor

Normal Ranges for a Semen Analysis from INCIID

Helpful Details

Morphology refers to the shape and structure of an object. Morphology may be even more important than count or motility in determining potential fertility. Abnormally shaped sperm cannot fertilize an egg. About 60% of the sperm should be normal in size and shape for adequate fertility.

The perfect structure is an oval head and long tail. Abnormally shaped sperm may include a number of variations:

A very large round head. (In one study, if 14% or more of sperm had round enlarged heads, the chances for pregnancy fell to about 20%. Such an abnormality indicates early unraveling of genetic material.)
An extremely small pinpoint head.
A tapered head.
A crooked head.
Two heads.
A tail with kinks and curls.
From Infertility in Men


Tapered refers to the head of the sperm, I found several references that mention testicular heat as a possible contributor to this defect:
Men with an elevated testicular temperature frequently due to a varicocele or exposure to excessive heat often have tapered sperm quality and may be missing the acrosome, the packet of enzymes at the tip of the sperm head that allow the sperm to bore through the coating of the egg.
From: An in-depth look at fertility

I also found this article: Deterioration Of Sperm Morphology In Men Exposed To High Temperature

Forward progression has to do with how well the sperm are at swimming forward (aka motility). I don't know much about it but Vitamin E and Selenium are supposed to help with motility

Hypoosmolarity has to do with too much water being in the sperm cell I believe, remember osmosis from biology class in high school? I couldn't find anything that directly spoke to directly this but this quote points out some possible things to research more on:
In mammalian cells, hydration may change dynamically in response to hormones, ethanol, aniso-osmotic environments, oxidative stress or by cumulative substrate uptake.
from: Hepatocellular hydration: signal transduction and functional implications.

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