1. Multicentric, prospective observational data show sperm capacitation predicts male fertility, and cohort comparison reveals a high prevalence of impaired capacitation in men questioning their fertility
- Author
-
Randy Morris, Maria Doukakis, Annette Lee, Steven Hirshberg, Mark Leondires, Eric K. Seaman, John Nichols, Michael J. Butcher, Joshua Hurwitz, Gianpiero D. Palermo, Fady I. Sharara, James A. Kashanian, Joshua A Bodie, Jennifer Nichols, Matthew Wosnitzer, Gail Whitman-Elia, Spencer Richlin, Zev Rosenwaks, M. Sobel, Peter Ahlering, Natan Bar-Chama, Shaun Williams, Cynthia Murdock, G. Charles Ostermeier, Tara Budinetz, Jay S. Schinfeld, Larry I. Barmat, Mira Aubuchon, John Payne, Travis W. McCoy, Edward Tarnawa, Alexander J. Travis, S.G. Somkuti, Ilana Ressler, and Lauren Weissmann
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Infertility ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Pregnancy Rate ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Fertility ,Semen analysis ,Logistic regression ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Pregnancy ,Capacitation ,medicine ,Humans ,Prospective Studies ,Infertility, Male ,media_common ,030219 obstetrics & reproductive medicine ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Obstetrics ,business.industry ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,medicine.disease ,Spermatozoa ,Sperm ,Semen Analysis ,030104 developmental biology ,Reproductive Medicine ,Fertilization ,Sperm Motility ,Female ,Observational study ,business ,Sperm Capacitation ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
Can a previously defined relationship between sperm capacitation and the probability of a man generating pregnancy within three cycles, prospectively predict male fertility in diverse clinical settings? A second study asked, what is the prevalence of impaired sperm fertilizing ability in men questioning their fertility (MQF), and does this relate to traditional semen analysis metrics?In the multicentric, prospective observational study, data (n = 128; six clinics) were analysed to test a published relationship between the percentage of fertilization-competent, capacitated spermatozoa (Cap-Score) and probability of generating pregnancy (PGP) within three cycles of intrauterine insemination. Logistic regression of total pregnancy outcomes (n = 252) assessed fit. In the cohort comparison, Cap-Scores of MQF (n = 2155; 22 clinics) were compared with those of 76 fertile men.New outcomes (n = 128) were rank-ordered by Cap-Score and divided into quintiles (25-26 per group); chi-squared testing revealed no difference between predicted and observed pregnancies (P = 0.809). Total outcomes (n = 252; 128 new + 124 previous) were pooled and the model recalculated, yielding an improved fit (P0.001). Applying the Akaike information criterion found that the optimal model used Cap-Score alone. Cap-Scores were performed on 2155 men (with semen analysis data available for 1948). To compare fertilizing ability, men were binned by PGP (≤19%, 20-29%, 30-39%, 40-49%, 50-59%, ≥60%). Distributions of PGP and the corresponding Cap-Scores were significantly lower in MQF versus fertile men (P0.001). Notably, 64% of MQF with normal volume, concentration and motility (757/1183) had PGP of 39% or less (Cap-Scores ≤31), versus 25% of fertile men.Sperm capacitation prospectively predicted male fertility. Impaired capacitation affects many MQF with normal semen analysis results, informing diagnosis versus idiopathic infertility.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF