BACKGROUND Standard semen parameters have proven poor at predicting the outcomes of IVF treatment cycles. As recent studies suggest that the male genome may play an important role in early embryogenesis, this study attempts to correlate the level of sperm DNA damage in fresh semen and prepared sperm with the outcomes of conventional IVF treatment cycles. METHODS Forty patients embarking on IV...

Sexual competition has selected a number of extreme phenotypes like the tail ornament of peacock male. Sperm tail of Drosophilidae elongate up to 6 cm as a result of evolutionary selection for reproductive fitness among competing sperms. Sperm elongation takes place post meiotically and can proceed in the absence of an axoneme. Here, we used primary cultures of elongating spermatids of D. melan...

Little detailed information is currently available on the incidence and morphological characteristics of abnormal sperm in the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and of ratites in general. This situation is further compounded by the lack of a uniform system for the morphological classification of avian sperm defects. Considering the important role that sperm morphology plays in the assessment of se...

BACKGROUND In many female insects, peptides transferred in the seminal fluid induce postmating responses (PMR), such as a drastic increase of egg laying and reduction of receptivity (readiness to mate). In Drosophila melanogaster, sex-peptide (SP) elicits short- and long-term PMR, but only the latter in the presence of stored sperm (sperm effect). RESULTS Here, we elucidate the interaction be...

Background: Infertility is a problem for 15 to 30% couples. Male infertility may be a result of insufficient number of sperms and poor motility. Spermatozoon consists of a head,midpiece and tail. The long tail consist micro-tubules that from part of the propulsion system of the spermatozoon. Motility of sperm is the result of relation between ATP,micro-tubules and dynein. Depression is one of t...

The adaptive significance of variation in sperm phenotype is still largely unknown, in part due to the difficulties of observing and measuring sperm movement in its natural, selective environment (i.e., within the female reproductive tract). Computer-assisted sperm analysis systems allow objective and accurate measurement of sperm velocity, but rely on being able to track individual sperm, and ...

Sermatozoa from two brothers who are not twins were found to be straight and immotile. Examinations of the sperm showed that oxygen consumption and lactic acid production were normal; viability tests showed that the percentage of dead sperm was not increased. The ultrastructural appearance of the sperm tail was normal except for a complete lack of dynein arms and some irregularities in the arra...

Mitochondria, important energy centers in the cell, also control sperm cell morphogenesis. Drosophila spermatids have a remarkably large mitochondrial formation called the nebenkern. Immediately following meiosis during sperm development, the mitochondria in the spermatid fuse together into two large aggregates which then wrap around one another to produce the spherical nebenkern: a giant mitoc...

PURPOSE The objective was to describe the results of the injection of immotile spermatozoa with flexible tails when only immotile spermatozoa are present in the semen sample. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the procedure results for 10 couples who participated in our intracytoplasmic sperm injection program. The sperm tail was considered flexible when it moved up and do...