مقايسه چهار روش ارزيابي كروماتين اسپرم و ارتباط آنها با شاخص هاي اسپرموگرام

The comparison of four different sperm chromatin assays and their correlation with semen parameters

Background: Chromatin status of human sperm, as one main characteristic of semen quality, has great importance in the prediction of male infertility. Analysis ofsperm chromatin quality can be considered as a valuable complementary test for routine semen analyses. There are many methods for analyzing sperm chromatin integrity. The aim of this study was to compare four sperm chromatin staining methods - anilin blue, toluid ine blue, chromomycin A) and acridine orange - and evaluate the correlation between sperm chromatin abnormalities and semen analysis parameters. Methods: Semen samples from 152 males attending Avicenna Infertility Clinic were coJlected and analyzed according to WHO criteria. Th e remains ofeach sample were assessed for chromatin integrity using ani lin blue , toluid ine blue, chromomycin A3 and acridine orange. Th e correlation between sperm chromatin parameters and semen analysis were evaluated and statistica l analysis was performed using SPSS, version 11.5, software. Results: Based on clinical sperm analysis results, subjects were divided into five groups; Normozoospermia (N), Teratozoosperrnia (T) , Asthenozoospermia (A) , Asthenoteratozoospermia (AT) and Oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT). The percentage of sperm with "Chromatin abnormality using acridine orange showed significant increases in oligoasthenoteratozoosperrnic (OAT) cases (p<0 .05), There was also a correlation between red-orange spermatozoa in acr idine orange and aniline blue s taining methods with semen analysis parameters. There was also sig nificant correlation between acridine orange and aniline blue (r=0.397, pO.05) . Conclusion: The tests for asses sing sperm chromatin abnormalities, including anilin blue, toluidine blue, chromomycin A3 and acridine orange are valuable tests for the assessment of sperm DNA integrity and sperm quality. Since there was no significant correlation between chromomycin A3 and toluidine blue, it seems that the two parameters are independent of semen analysis, therefore performance of these two tests are suggested for the evaluation of sperm quality. Acridine orange and aniline blue along with routine semen analysis appear to be useful as a predictor of male infertility.