Incidence of sperm with two fluorescent bodies in men with impaired fertility

To determine the two fluorescent body (2FLB) frequency in males with impaired fertility.

Males of couples were evaluated along with their female partners for reproductive function. They were classified as having the potential for fertility (control group) or as infertile (test group). This was based on the evaluation of both members of the couple. Semen parameters were determined and analyzed for differences among diagnostic groups.

The setting was clinical secondary care in both private and institutional practice.

The study population was composed of males of couples who were being evaluated for infertility. Classification as to reproductive potential and categories of abnormality was based on measurement of semen parameters and clinical judgment.

Semen specimens were obtained and analyzed from 78 control and 93 test subjects.

Semen parameters including volume, sperm count, sperm motility, percent morphologically abnormal sperm, and percent of quinacrine-stained sperm containing zero, one, or two FLBs were determined.

The test group was found to have a 2FLB frequency that was significantly different from that of the control group. The data were then analyzed for significant differences in 2FLB frequencies in subpopulations. When subjects from all diagnostic subgroups that included varicocele were compared with the controls, the 2FLB frequency was significantly elevated (median percent of 2FLB was 1.2 versus 0.7). The 2FLB frequency in the remaining diagnostic groups was not elevated.

This is the first report of an elevated 2FLB frequency associated with a biological abnormality. The cause of the elevated 2FLB frequency is not known. However, other anomalies that have been identified in varicocele patients have been associated with elevated intrascrotal temperatures. There are data available that associates elevated temperature with aneuploidy in mouse oocytes.