Sperm nucleomalacia in men with inflammatory bowel disease

The extent and nature of seminal anomalies in colitic and ileitic patients were investigated using cytological, cytochemical, and electron microscopical methods. In addition to basic seminal variables, the gross and fine structure of spermatozoa were analyzed and the recorded data correlated with actual clinical conditions and therapeutic regimen of patients. Spermiograms revealed that the effect on the testicular function varied among patients, ranging from a subtle embarrassment of late spermiogenesis to a suppression of spermatogenesis as reflected in severe oligozoospermia. In several instances, excurrent ducts and accessory sex glands also were involved. The nuclear syndrome was an invariably observed phenomenon and consisted of increased pleomorphy, excessive vacuolation, postnuclear blebbing, malcondensation, and spontaneous decondensation of chromatin. The nuclear pleomorphy, malcondensation, and decondensation, apparently interrelated, constitute the characteristic condition, referred to as nucleomalacia. Other sperm defects seemed to be mere amplifications of deficiencies common in human semen. The correlation between the extent of intestinal lesions or severity of symptoms and the ratio of nuclear aberrations, demonstrated with acid-fast technique, was striking. No such relationship was found regarding the sulfasalazine treatment.