Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Flow Cytometric Analysis of Biomarkers for Detecting Human Sperm Functional Defects
Published on: April 21, 2022
Novel associations between specific sperm morphological defects and leukocytospermia
Nabil Aziz1, Ashok Agarwal, Iwan Lewis-Jones
1Reproduction Medicine Unit, Liverpool Women's Hospital, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Objective:
To examine the relationship between leukocyte concentrations in semen and sperm morphology in a group of infertile men and healthy fertile donors.
Design:
A prospective clinical study.
Setting:
Male infertility clinic at a tertiary care teaching hospital and a reproductive medicine unit at a Women's Hospital in the United Kingdom.
Patient(S):
Fifty-six infertile men and 13 healthy fertile sperm donors (control).
Intervention(S):
Standard semen analysis, seminal leukocyte concentration, and the assessment of sperm morphology and sperm deformity index (SDI), applying Tygerberg's strict criteria.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Granulocyte concentrations in semen, percentages of different sperm morphological abnormalities, and SDI scores.
Result(S):
Leukocyte concentrations were statistically significantly and negatively correlated with the proportion of sperm with damaged acrosomes, cytoplasmic droplet, tail defects, and SDI scores with normal and borderline morphology. The percentage sperm motility was significantly and negatively correlated with leukocytic concentration in semen. However, the leukocytic concentration was not significantly correlated with sperm concentration.
Conclusion(S):
This is the first study to report a significant positive correlation between leukocytospermia and sperm tail defects, acrosomal damage, and high SDI scores. These observations suggest that leukocytospermia is associated with compromised sperm structural integrity.
Related Concept Videos
Infertility in Males
Sperm Structure and Semen Composition
Spermatogenesis
Spermatogenesis
The process of spermatogenesis can be divided into mitosis, meiosis, and spermiogenesis. During mitosis, the spermatogonia or stem cells divide to produce two identical daughter cells, type A and B spermatogonia. Type-A...
Amebiasis
Sperm Transport
The maturation phase occurs in the epididymis, where sperm...
