Penetration of sperm from teratospermic men into zona-free hamster eggs

The ability of sperm samples from male partners of infertile couples, with isolated teratospermia (ITS), to penetrate zona-free hamster eggs was examined. The ITS patients had a significantly lower proportion of normal spermatozoa than did a control group of men of proven fertility (23.6% and 47.8%, respectively; P less than 0.001), while the mean total sperm count and the % motility did not differ between the two groups. The mean hamster egg penetration rate of sperm from ITS patients was 2.64% compared to 31.1% in the control group. A significant negative correlation was found in the ITS group between the proportion of a) abnormal forms and the ability to penetrate zona-free hamster eggs, and b) pyriform-shaped sperm and the penetration rate. Of the sperm parameters which were examined, only the morphology could be correlated with the rate of penetration.