[Routine semen parameters and sperm morphological index of infertile males with partial globozoospermia]

To investigate the routine semen parameters and sperm morphological indexes of the patients with partial globozoospermia (PGZ).

We included in this study 100 infertile males with PGZ and another 180 non-PGZ infertile men as controls. According to the proportion of round-headed sperm (RHS) in the semen, we classified the PGZ males into five subgroups: 25%－40%, 41%－55%, 56%－70%, 71%－85%, and 86%－99% RHS. We obtained sperm concentration, total sperm motility, the percentage of progressively motile sperm, teratozoospermia index (TZI), and sperm deformity index (SDI) from the subjects and compared them among different groups.

Statistically significant differences were found between the PGZ patients and non-PGZ controls in total sperm motility (［35.76±24.88］% vs ［62.03±10.20］%, P<0.01), the percentage of progressively motile sperm (［26.11±20.39］% vs ［45.62±6.87］%, P<0.01), the percentage of morphologically normal sperm (［1.45±1.45］% vs ［5.98±2.21］%, P<0.01), and SDI (1.33±0.11 vs 1.27±0.57, P<0.01), but not in age (［29.82±4.90］ vs ［30.33±3.59 ］ yr, P>0.05), sperm concentration (［46.01±40.38］ vs ［54.00±25.15］ ×106/ml, P>0.05), or TZI (1.35±0.11 vs 1.34±0.54, P>0.05). There were also significant differences among the five PGZ subgroups in total sperm motility, progressive sperm motility, normal sperm morphology, TZI, and SDI (P<0.01), but not in age or sperm concentration (P>0.05). Morphologically, the sperm head changed from heterogeneous to homogeneous with the increased proportion of round-headed sperm.

Different proportions of round-headed sperm are closely related to routine semen parameters and sperm morphological index in PGZ patients, which can help clinicians choose the proper assisted reproductive technology and predict the rate of fertilization for infertile males.