Human Sperm Immotility Caused by Degeneration in the Epididymis

Objective To investigate whether sperm immotility was caused by degeneration in the epididymis Methods Five patients with totally immotile sperm were selected in this study. Testicular biopsy was used to obtain testicular sperm to evaluate sperm motility. The combined hypoosmotic swelling eosin Y exclusion test was carried out to determine the sperm head and tail membrane integrity for the ejaculated and the testicular sperm. The ultrastructure of ejaculated sperm was examined by transmission electron microscope. Results No motile sperm were found in the ejaculated semen samples from 5 patients, whereas 2% to 11% motile testicular sperm extracted from the testicular biopsy tissues were observed. The percentage of testicular sperm with intact head and tail membranes was higher than that of the ejaculated sperm (P<0.01). Ultrastructure of the ejaculated sperm showed marked degenerative features. Seminal plasma from patients did not influence the motility of normal donor sperm. Conclusion Sperm could undergo degenerative changes during transit through and /or storage in the epididymis, which led to lose sperm motility in these patients. Using motile testicular sperm would benefit the treatment for such cases.