We examined the current status of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) carrier in Japanese pregnant women, according to the results of HTLV-1 screening and confirmation tests of women who gave birth in Japan in 2011. We requested 2642 obstetrical facilities to provide information of HTLV-1 tests and 71.3% of them responded. Considering the response rate and the rate of implementation of confirmation tests, the number of HTLV-1 carrier in Japanese pregnant women was estimated to be 1620 (0.16%) per year.
Flow cytometry was used in the scoring of acrosome-reacted human sperm. Propidium iodide was used for detection of the nonviability of the sperm. Fluoresceinated pea lectin was used to detect acrosome-reacted sperm. The results obtained by flow cytometry and those obtained by fluorescence microscopy were compared to determine if flow cytometry can serve as a more accurate, faster, and simpler method. It was possible to detect human sperm by flow cytometry. The percentage of propidium iodide labeled sperm determined by flow cytometry was close to that obtained by fluorescence microscopy. Comparison of the percentage of acrosome-reacted sperm determined by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy showed that these methods gave very similar results (r = 0.98, p less than 0.001). Objective scoring of more sperm was possible by flow cytometry than by fluorescence microscopy, and flow cytometry was useful as a simple method for evaluation of acrosome-reacted human sperm.
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