New perspectives on male fertility evaluation: Innovative approach for the qualitative analysis of spermatozoa

Abstract

The identification of idiopathic infertility cases, actually, is impossible. Among new functional tests, developed to improve the male fertility diagnosis, the evaluation of spermatic myo-inositol (MI) level, known as Andrositol ® test (AT), is one of the most interesting, considering its weak economic burden and ease of use. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive power of AT and its potential use for a preliminary evaluation of semen samples. To evaluate the predictive power of AT, 87 sperm samples were analysed in comparison with spermiogram and sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) Test, the gold standard analyses for male fertility evaluation. The application of AT resulted very useful for a preliminary sample evaluation, predicting the absence of DNA fragmentation in case of Low Responder samples precisely, and the presence of DNA fragmentation in case of medium or High Responder samples with abnormal morphology, predicting SCD results with a probability of 80% for Medium Responder sample and of 96.7% for High Responder sample. Considering the predictive power of this method, we could imagine, as preliminary qualitative analysis, its application before SCD test, deepening sperm analysis, improving the daily activities of laboratory operators and maintaining a good reliability of sperm evaluation.

Gender characteristics of autoimmune hypogonadism

“…Few clinical studies exist aimed to identify the autoimmune process in the testicular interstitial cells (Leydig cells) that produce the main androgen, i. e. testosterone. At the same time, in more than 30 % of patients with impaired spermatogenesis and normal levels of serum FSH and LH, the cause of hypogonadism remains unclear [4][5][6].…”