Headless spermatozoa in infertile men

Sha, Yanwei; Ding, Lu; Wu, Jiabao; Lin, Shaobin; Wang, X.; Ji, Zhiyong; Li, P.

doi:10.1111/and.12716

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This may be because different proportions of headless sperm are produced by different pathogenic mechanisms, which requires further study. Previous research has reported that patients whose semen contains headless sperm may be infertile or suffer decreased fertility [4,10,12,13,[26][27][28][29][47][48][49]. Our research supports some of these statements regarding sperm quality.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Semen parameters are seriously affected in acephalic spermatozoa syndrome

Ying

Lin

Yang

et al. 2022

Basic Clin. Androl.

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Background Previous studies have reported that some patients with headless spermatozoa have poor semen quality, but there has been no published systematic analysis of semen quality in patients with different proportions of headless spermatozoa in semen. We aimed to explore the association of acephalic spermatozoa syndrome and semen quality in men with distinct proportions of headless spermatozoa. Material and methods Semen parameter values in patients for whom headless spermatozoa were found in the ejaculates was studied and compared to that of 413 age-matched prenatal examination patients. All semen samples were analyzed following the same methodology in a single laboratory. Results All semen parameter values except semen volume were negatively (P < 0.05) correlated with the proportion of headless spermatozoa. The semen samples were divided into four groups on the basis of the proportion of headless spermatozoa (PHS) as follows: 0 < PHS ≤ 5% (n = 172, Group A1); 5 < PHS ≤ 10% (n = 76, Group A2); 10 < PHS ≤ 20% (n = 71, Group B); and PHS > 20% (n = 71, Group C). In Group A1, only one semen parameter value (progressive motility) was lower than those of the control group, but in Group A2, this increased to five (sperm vitality, normal sperm morphology, sperm motility, VCL (curvilinear velocity) and ALH (amplitude of lateral head displacement)). Worse still, all semen parameter values were significantly lower in Group B and Group C than in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions Semen samples containing headless spermatozoa tend to have lower quality than samples without headless spermatozoa. Increases in the proportion of headless spermatozoa in semen are associated with decreased semen quality. We suggest that headless spermatozoa should be seriously assessed and accurately counted in semen analysis, especially for ejaculate in which the proportion of headless spermatozoa exceeds 5%.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Semen parameters are seriously affected in acephalic spermatozoa syndrome

Ying

Lin

Yang

et al. 2022

Basic Clin. Androl.

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“…Meanwhile, in the case of TSGA10 gene-related AS defects, a tailless head was able to fertilise an egg, but embryo quality was poor and clinical pregnancies failed to occur. Microscopic observation showed that due to irregular cleavage and developmental delay in the embryo, a clinical pregnancy failed after embryo transfer [45]. Meanwhile, the ICSI outcomes associated with BRDT mutation-associated AS defects have not been published as yet; however, the possible ICSI results of AS patients with a mutated BRDT gene can be predicted due to the defect of the distal centriole.…”

Section: The Outcomes Of Icsi Can Be Predicted By As Subtypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Acephalic Spermatozoa: The Complexity of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcomes

Nie¹,

Tang²,

Qin³

2020

BioMed Research International

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This review analyses the genetic mechanisms of acephalic spermatozoa (AS) defects, which are associated with primary infertility in men. Several target genes of headless sperms have been identified but intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes are complex. Based on electron microscopic observations, broken points of the sperm neck are AS defects that are based on various genes that can be classified into three subtypes: HOOK1, SUN5, and PMFBP1 genes of subtype II; TSGA10 and BRDT genes of subgroup III, while the genetic mechanism(s) and aetiology of AS defects of subtype I have not been described and remain to be explored. Interestingly, all AS sperm of subtype II achieved better ICSI outcomes than other subtypes, resulting in clinical pregnancies and live births. For subtype III, the failure of clinical pregnancy can be explained by the defects of paternal centrioles that arrest embryonic development; for subtype I, this was due to a lack of a distal centriole. Consequently, the embryo quality and potential ICSI results of AS defects can be predicted by the subtypes of AS defects. However, this conclusion with regard to ICSI outcomes based on subtypes still needs further research, while the existence of quality of oocyte and implantation failure in women cannot be ignored.

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“…The elongation of sperm head was also significantly correlated to fecundity rate (Buck Louis et al ., ; Wang & Swerdloff, ). The importance of elongation may be explained by abnormal acrosin activity in the round‐headed spermatozoa, which can lead to failure of natural pregnancy (Lalonde et al ., ; Dam et al ., ; Sha et al ., ). In our results, the correlation between high elongation and low acrosin activity supported such hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The association between sperm head elongation and semen quality

et al. 2019

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Background: Previous studies suggested that sperm head shape may serve as an effective indicator of semen quality. However, there lacks research with large sample and quantitative measurement. Objectives: The objective of this retrospective study was to explore the association between sperm head elongation (Width/Length ratio) and routine semen parameters. Materials and methods: From January 2012 to December 2017, 63 866 semen samples were collected from male subjects at 18-60 years of age. Sperm head elongation and routine semen parameters (semen volume, sperm concentration, motility, etc.) were examined with computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) systems in order to evaluate the association between elongation and semen quality. Results: Logistic and linear regression models showed that the value of elongation is negatively correlated with sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive motility, total motility, percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa, and acrosin activity (all p < 0.001). Discussion: The results suggested that higher value of elongation is generally associated with higher risks of abnormality in semen quality. The importance of elongation may be explained by abnormal acrosin activity in the round-headed spermatozoa, which has been reported to cause failure of natural pregnancy. Conclusions: This study provides a new insight into the sperm head shape, which may be used as a complementary parameter in clinical semen examination and academic research.

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Headless spermatozoa in infertile men

Cited by 6 publications

References 28 publications

Semen parameters are seriously affected in acephalic spermatozoa syndrome

Semen parameters are seriously affected in acephalic spermatozoa syndrome

Beyond Acephalic Spermatozoa: The Complexity of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcomes

The association between sperm head elongation and semen quality

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