semen analysis Flashcards
top 2 reasons for semen analysis
1- fertility
2- post vasectomy
normal semen composed from various structures on male
semen and sperm??
baby sperm
spermatozoa: produced in testes under influence of testosterone
where does sperm mature
epididymis
60% seminal fluid produced in
seminal vesicles with falfin: gives milky look
20% of fluid produced in
prostrate
prostate produces
acid phosphate and
- helps determine if women are raped
-liquefaction
in seminal vesicles pick up fructose and determine
MADDIE
takes sperm how long to mature
3 months
so if testing sperm now it is really the sperm from 3 months ago and can affect results
when collecting sperm how long should men not ejaculate for
2-7 days before collection
sperm can NOT be collected in anything with a
spermicidal agents - condom
sperm should be accessed how long after collection
1-2 hours and be kept warm or else will affect motility
-normally placed in 37 degree incubator for 30 minutes to liquify to analyze
if sperm doesn’t liquify in 1 hour
something is wrong; could be producing antibodies against own sperm
issues with appearance of sperm for fertility
blood, not viscous enough, yellow (means contaminated with urine)
viscosity is measured on rate of
1-4
1= watery
4= doesn’t move
should drip from a pipette
normal volume of seminal fluid
2-6 mL
normal pH of fluid
7-8
if >8 pH
infection’ normally with enterobacteria with conversions of nitrate to nitrites
if <7 pH will affect
motility and production of sperm
for looking for motility and forward progression of sperm make
wet mount
men can have low sperm count but got motile=
good chance of pregnancy
MOTILITY= HUGE
how many fields should be estimated for amount of sperm moving
20-25 fields
want to see 50-70% normal motility
forward progression
are they moving forward
scale of 1-4
normal amount of sperm
20-120 million /mL
how is sperm count
on hemocytometer
- mix with NaOH with some fluid
2.sit 30 min - stops movement of sperm
- allow to settle before counting
how to look at morph for sperm
-spin down liquid so sperm at bottom
-put on slide and stain
normal sized head with tapering tail
70% need to be normal to be considered “normal”
<70% normal looking sperm =
infertility
what stain does the sperm viability test use
eosin nigrosin
what does the sperm viability test determine
what percentage of sperm are viable/ alive
-should coincide with motility
colors of sperm viability test
stain will penetrate dead sperm- red
live sperm will be- blueish/white
look in 25 fields to determine overall
what percent of sperm do you want to be alive in the sperm viability test
> 50%
main sugar sperm uses for energy
fructose
we can do a fructose level on
higher % of sperm are dead
-measures amount in seminal fluid
if you notice a lot of sperm that are together it could be
male producing antibodies against own sperm
how to perform sperm aggulating bodies test
draw male serum and add sperm
-if see agglutination= antibodies
same can be done with female serum
what test is done if everything else seems right but you think something is wrong
sperm agglutinating bodies
how long does it take post vasectomy to have a sperm count of zero
3 months
gold standard= 3 negative sperm counts mean negative
tests we can culture for on seminal fluid
- Neisseria Gonorrhea
- PCR testing for Chlamydia
- PCR for micro plasma hominis
- Serology testing for syphilis
