Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Dec;43(4):393-400.
doi: 10.5152/tud.2017.96646. Epub 2017 Dec 1.

Sperm function tests in clinical practice

Fuat Kızılay  1 , Barış Altay  1
Affiliations
Review

Sperm function tests in clinical practice

Fuat Kızılay et al. Turk J Urol. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Conventional semen analysis solely is not completely adequate to predict pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, advanced sperm function tests have been developed and introduced to clinical practice. These tests use different methods and techniques to evaluate different stages of fertilization steps. In this review, we reported some commonly used sperm function tests: sperm penetration assay, sperm-zona pellucida binding test (hemizona assay), acrosomal reaction test, hyaluronan binding test, hypo-osmotic swelling test, magnetic-activated cell sorting and zeta sperm selection. We discussed the literature concerning these tests, the utilization techniques and also purpose and mechanism of each test. We emphasized the importance of sperm function tests in predicting in vitro fertilization and pregnancy outcomes and in the management of infertile couples and also the limitations of these tests. Along with improvements in molecular biology techniques, we believe that more applicative and beneficial tests will be developed in the near future.

Keywords: In vitro fertilization; male infertility; sperm functional test.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Steps of fertilization
Figure 2. a, b
Figure 2. a, b
Illustration of sperm penetration assay. (a) Human spermatozoa are seen in the hamster oocyte cytoplasm. (b) Arrows show sperm heads swelling in the oocyte cytoplasm, indicating sperm decondensation
Figure 3
Figure 3
Most commonly used sperm-zona pellucida binding tests
Figure 4
Figure 4
Steps of acrosome reaction
Figure 5
Figure 5
The flow chart of hypo-osmotic swelling test
Figure 6
Figure 6
Magnetic-Activated Cell Sorting. (a) Annexin V molecule is attached to magnetic microspheres (b) When sperm go through a magnetic field, those who attach to the micro-spheres are retained and discarded (c) Annexin V binds to a marker (phosphatidylserine) present only in the membrane of sperm with fragmented DNA
Figure 7
Figure 7
Sperm selection using zeta test. (A) Negatively charged mature sperm will move to the positively charged tube surface. (B) Immature spermatozoa will be discarded
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Lefièvre L, Bedu-Addo K, Conner SJ, Machado-Oliveira GS, Chen Y, Kirkman-Brown JC, et al. Counting sperm does not add up any more: time for a new equation? Reproduction. 2007;133:675–84. - PubMed
    1. Guzick DS, Overstreet JW, Factor-Litvak P, Brazil CK, Nakajima ST, Coutifaris C, et al. Sperm morphology, motility, and concentration in fertile and infertile men. N Engl J Med. 2001;345:1388–93. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa003005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Oehninger S. Clinical management of male infertility in assisted reproduction: ICSI and beyond. Int J Androl. 2011;34:e319–e29. - PubMed
    1. Barratt CL, Mansell S, Beaton C, Tardif S, Oxenham SK. Diagnostic tools in male infertility--the question of sperm dysfunction. Asian J Androl. 2011;13:53–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/aja.2010.63. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. González-Marín C, Gosálvez J, Roy R. Types, causes, detection and repair of DNA fragmentation in animal and human sperm cells. Int J Mol Sci. 2012;13:14026–52. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms131114026. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources