P-47: Comparison of Sperm Acrosin Activity and DNA Fragmentation between Varicocele and Infertile Individuals

Background: Introduction assessment of sperm functional tests along with routine semen analysis may provide further information in the etiology of varicocele in different subpopulations. Therefore, in this study, in addition to assessment of sperm chromatin integrity, we aimed to assess the total acrosin activity which has proven to have major role during in vitro and natural fertilization in varicocele compared to fertile individuals.Materials and Methods: Sperm parameters were assessed in individuals with a clinical diagnosed varicocele of grade II or III (n= 70) and fertile men as control group (n= 30). In addition, total acrosin activity and DNA fragmentation were evaluated by spectrophotometery and TUNEL assay respectively. Results: Sperm concentration, percentage of normal morphology and total acrosin activity were significantly higher in fertile compared to varicocele individuals. A significant correlation was observed between total acrosin activity and DNA fragmentation in fertile individuals. Conclusion: The results of this study reveal that unlike DNA fragmentations as the negative parameter for fertility, total acrosin activity as the positive parameters in fertility is higher in the varicocele individuals.