Obstet Gynecol Sci.  2018 Mar;61(2):179-191. 10.5468/ogs.2018.61.2.179.

Clinical assessment of the male fertility

• Khatun A
• Rahman MS
• Pang MG

• KMID: 2420171
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5468/ogs.2018.61.2.179

Abstract

The evaluation of infertility in males consists of physical examination and semen analyses. Standardized semen analyses depend on the descriptive analysis of sperm motility, morphology, and concentration, with a threshold level that must be surpassed to be considered a fertile spermatozoon. Nonetheless, these conventional parameters are not satisfactory for clinicians since 25% of infertility cases worldwide remain unexplained. Therefore, newer tests methods have been established to investigate sperm physiology and functions by monitoring characteristics such as motility, capacitation, the acrosome reaction, reactive oxygen species, sperm DNA damage, chromatin structure, zona pellucida binding, and sperm-oocyte fusion. After the introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection technique, sperm maturity, morphology, and aneuploidy conditions have gotten more attention for investigating unexplained male infertility. In the present article, recent advancements in research regarding the utilization of male fertility prediction tests and their role and accuracy are reviewed.

Keyword

Infertility; Semen analysis; Spermatozoa

MeSH Terms

Acrosome Reaction
Aneuploidy
Chromatin
DNA Damage
Fertility*
Humans
Infertility
Infertility, Male
Male*
Physical Examination
Physiology
Reactive Oxygen Species
Semen Analysis
Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic
Sperm Motility
Spermatozoa
Zona Pellucida
Chromatin
Reactive Oxygen Species