Relationship of heparin binding with computer-analyzed physical traits of human sperm

The objective of this study was to determine whether heparin affinity or the concentration of binding sites was related to sperm traits analyzed by a routine computerized semen analysis in human males requesting infertility evaluations. Saturation of heparin binding sites on sperm was achieved in 36 of 50 samples analyzed so that accurate estimates of dissociation constants (Kd) and binding site concentrations could be made. A broad range in Kds (18.2 to 284.5 nM/micrograms deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA]) and binding site concentrations (2.70 to 44.77 nM/micrograms DNA) was found. The binding affinity of sperm for heparin was significantly correlated with concentrations of cells in the ejaculate (r = 0.56), concentrations of motile sperm (r = 0.51), percentage of motile sperm (r = 0.33), and total numbers of ejaculated sperm (r = 0.37). The concentration of heparin binding sites also was correlated with concentration of cells in the ejaculate (r = 0.60), concentration of motile sperm (r = 0.50), percentage of motile sperm (r = 0.40), and total number of ejaculated sperm (r = 0.49).