Accurate prognosis of male fertility based on semen measurements is still not straightforward. This study was designed to identify the best predictors of fertility and to develop a multiple regression model predicting fertility using selected parameters of semen analysis. The predictive value of standard semen parameters and selected functional tests were studied in 113 fertile men and in 109 s...

INTRODUCTION Although the pathophysiology of the testicular damage associated with varicocele remains unclear, sperm DNA damage has been identified as a potential explanation for this cause of male infertility. The current study was designed to determine the extent of sperm nuclear DNA damage in patients with varicocele, and to examine its relationship with parameters of seminal motility. MAT...

PURPOSE To date, standard semen parameters have been the only parameters investigated in sperm samples of infertile men in Algeria. We investigated, for the first time, semen parameters according to sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) in these subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS SDF was determined by a validated sperm chromatin dispersion test in 26 infertile men. Patients were split into two groups ac...

It is my pleasure to write the foreword to this focused edition on sperm DNA fragmentation. This topic is one of the most exciting in male fertility diagnosis and treatment today and it has still so much untapped potential. After years of struggling with outdated diagnostic tools we have discovered DNA fragmentation; a sensitive and specific property of sperm. It is disappointing that there has...

As an attempt to find an inexpensive and simple laboratory method for artificial insemination (AI) bull semen quality assessment, the osmotic resistance of spermatozoa was measured using the hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test, developed by Jeyendran et al. (1984) (labelled HOS-1), and its modifications (HOS-2, HOS-3), with decreased osmotic pressure aimed at challenging sperm survival ability. The...

________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract The aim of the study was to determine if the breeding potential of 25-month old Bonsmara beef bulls could be predicted from production characteristics. Forty-one Bonsmara bulls were included in an on-farm performance test (also known as the Phase D growth test) for a period of 180 days. At an average age o...

We report on a form of sperm polymorphism, termed polymegaly, that occurs in species of the Drosophila obscura group. Individual males of species in this group characteristically produce more than one discrete length of nucleated, motile sperm. Hypotheses suggested to explain the evolutionary significance of sperm polymorphism have been either nonadaptive or adaptive, with the latter focusing o...

Prohibitin (PHB), a major mitochondrial membrane protein, has been shown earlier in our laboratoryto regulate sperm motility via an alteration in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in infertile men with poor sperm quality. To test if PHB expression is associated with sperm mitochondrial superoxide (mROS) levels, here we examined sperm mROS levels, high MMP and lipid peroxidation in infertil...

BACKGROUND The intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique selects sperm according to morphology and motility. However, these parameters cannot predict the chromatin integrity of sperm. Considering the detrimental effects of DNA-damaged sperm on reproductive outcomes, novel sperm selection procedures have been proposed to circumvent the possibility of inseminating DNA-damaged sperm. It h...

In guppies (Poecilia reticulata) precopulatory sexual selection (via female choice) and post-copulatory selection (via sperm competition) both favour males with relatively high levels of carotenoid (orange) pigmentation, suggesting that colourful males produce more competitive ejaculates. Here we test whether there is a positive association between male orange pigmentation and sperm quality. Ou...