Simplified and objective assessment of spermatogenesis in spinal cord injured men by flow cytometry analysis

Abstract

Deterioration of the germinal epithelium of the testis is a known sequela of spinal cord injury (SCI) that may influence the outcome of male reproductive rehabilitation efforts. Quantitative testicular biopsy, currently regarded as the standard of assessing the integrity of spermatogenesis, has not gained wide spread clinical use because of its invasive nature and relative technical complex ity. Alternatively, aspiration DNA flow cytometry analysis of the testis has offered a potential method of spermatogenic assessment that meets both the requirements of simplicity and objectivity. The objective of this study is to determine the capability of flow cytometry to assess spermatogenesis following SCI. Eleven SCI men underwent incisional testicular biopsy with the specimen simultaneously submitted for quantitative evaluation of the germinal epithelium by both quantitative histometry and DNA flow cytometry. The haploid percen tage of cells showed highly significant levels of correlation with key micrometric parameters of the quantitative testicular biopsy: spermatid/tubule (p < 0.002) and the spermatid/Sertoli cell ratio (p < 0.0005). Since tissue procurement is accomplished less invasively for flow cytometry analysis, we recommend this method as the modality of assuring integrity of the germinal epithelium in candidates for reproductive rehabilitation.

Semen Quality in Males with Spinal Cord Injury: Medical and Psychological Aspect

“…Chapelle et al reported that patients with a spinal lesion usually showed a particular pattern of germinal cell abnormalities and the atrophy was multifactorial, but might well include destruction of the sympathetic innervation of the testis by the lesion [7]. Hirsch et al used new flow cytometry technique to perform assessment of spermatogenesis in men with spinal cord injury and reported that aspiration DNA flow cytometry analysis of the testis offered a potential method of spermatogenic assessment that reached both the requirements of simplicity and objectivity [8].…”

Use of SYBR14, 7‐amino‐actinomycin D, and JC‐1 in assessing sperm damage from rats with spinal cord injury

“…However, very little has been published on methods to quantify sperm damage following spinal cord injury, and no publications recording the results of experimental therapeutic entities for SCI were found in the MEDLINE database (National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez). For example, Basu et al (4) looked at injury in terms of infiltration by activated T cells into the semen of men with SCI, while Hirsch et al (5,6) examined sperm regeneration following SCI. These studies, while compelling, do not address the need to quantify injury to sperm itself following SCI.…”