Postoperative changes of sperm chromatin heterogeneity, using acridine orange staining, in varicocele patients

The aim of this study was to evaluate postoperative changes in sperm chromatin heterogeneity in varicocele patients. In 15 infertile patients with varicocele, sperm parameters including concentration, motility, and morphology were evaluated before and after surgical correction of varicocele. Sperm motion analysis using computer-assisted semen analyzer (CASA) was also performed. To analyze the sperm nuclear proteins, the acridine orange staining method was used. On semen analysis, sperm concentration and motility significantly increased after surgery (p = 0.002, p = 0.003, respectively), although sperm morphology was unaltered postoperatively. CASA parameters, including velocity, linearity, amplitude of lateral head displacement and beat cross frequency were unaltered postoperatively. On the other hand, acridine orange staining significantly increased postoperatively (p = 0.002). Varicocele influences the sperm chromatin condition, as well as sperm concentration and motility.