The Acrosomal Status of Density Purified Spermatozoa Differentiates Men from Couples in IVF and ICSI Treatment and Is Associated with Fecundity

Abstract

The acrosome of the spermatozoa is required for fertilization and in the raw ejaculate the percentage of viable acrosome-intact spermatozoa, the acrosomal status, is higher among men with good semen quality. Here we investigated if the acrosomal status of the processed semen preparations used at a fertility clinic can also be informative and whether it is associated with fecundity. The acrosomal status was measured by image cytometry on purified semen samples from couples during in vitro fertilization (IVF) (n = 99) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) (n = 107) treatment. Purified frozen-thawed donor samples were also analyzed (n = 199). In purified semen preparations the acrosomal status was significantly higher among sperm donors (p = 5.3 × 10−8) and men from IVF couples (p = 2.2 × 10−5) when compared to men from ICSI couples. A significant difference was also found between female, male and mixed factor infertility (p = 0.003). No association with lifestyle factors was found. In frozen-thawed donor samples, a significant positive (r = 0.16, p = 0.025) association with the number of pregnancies per sold straw was observed together with an area under the curve of 75.3%, when comparing the top and bottom deciles. Our results indicate that the acrosomal status may be a valuable parameter for personalizing fertility treatments and might be a good predictor of pregnancy success among normozoospermic men.