Alteraciones morfológicas de espermatozoides humanos por microscopía electrónica de barrido / Morphological alterations of human spermatozoa detected by scanning electron microscopy

Introducción: las alteraciones morfológicas en los espermatozoides humanos con frecuencia son responsables de la infertilidad masculina. En determinados casos, muchas anormalidades no se observan en los estudios de morfología realizados en los espermogramas de rutina por microscopía óptica convencional, por lo que es necesario recurrir a técnicas alternativas que permitan visualizar con mejor precisión los detalles morfológicos. Objetivo: identificar anormalidades morfológicas mediante microscopía electrónica de barrido, en espermatozoides de hombres que consultan por infertilidad, los cuales fueron reportados como morfológicamente normales por microscopia óptica. Métodos: se utilizaron 140 muestras de semen de hombres con edades entre 20 y 45 años, procedentes de las consultas de infertilidad del Instituto Nacional de Endocrinología. Se realizó el espermograma a las muestras colectadas por masturbación, según criterio de OMS, y se seleccionaron espermatozoides de las muestras con 30 por ciento o más de morfología normal determinadas por microscopía óptica, para el estudio morfológico por microscopía electrónica de barrido. Resultados: de las 140 muestras utilizadas en el estudio, 119 resultaron morfológicamente normales por microscopía óptica. De estas últimas, se encontraron alteraciones morfológicas por microscopía electrónica de barrido en 79 (66,4 por ciento), en relación con 40 (33,6 por ciento) que no mostraron. Las alteraciones espermáticas que predominaron fueron las correspondientes a colas pequeñas y enrolladas, pieza media doblada, cabezas grandes, amorfas y elongadas, con algunos cambios en la estructura acrosomal, así como espermatozoides con cabeza de punta. Las alteraciones de cola aparecen tanto aisladas como mixtas en 47 (59,4 por ciento) de las 79 muestras. Conclusiones: mediante la microscopía electrónica de barrido fue posible identificar anormalidades morfológicas en espermatozoides de hombres que consultan por infertilidad, los cuales fueron reportados como morfológicamente normales por microscopia óptica(AU)

Introduction: morphological alterations of human spermatozoa are a common cause of infertility. Many abnormalities in certain cases are not observed in the morphological studies conducted in the routine spermograms based on the conventional optic microscopy; therefore, it is necessary to resort to alternative techniques that visualize morphological details with more precision. Objective: to identify morphological spermatozoa abnormalities through scanning electron microscopy in patients who were treated in the infertility service and whose spermatozoa had been morphologically reported as normal in the optic microscopy exam. Methods: one hundred forty semen samples taken from men aged 20 to 40 years, who were treated at the infertility service of the National Institute of Endocrinology. According to WHO criteria, the collected samples after masturbation were subjected to spermograms and those spermatozoa from the samples with 30 percent or over of their morphology being normal, according to the optic microscopy results, were selected for the scanning electron microscopy study. Results: of the 140 study samples, 119 were found morphologically normal in the optical miscroscopy. Out of the latter, 79 (66.4 percent) were found to have morphological alterations in the scanning electron microscopy results, and 40 (33.6 percent) were not. Predominant spermatic alterations were short and coiled tails, folded middle piece, big amorphous and elongated heads with some changes in their acrosomal structure as well as pointy-head spermatozoa. Both mixed and isolated tail alterations appeared in 47 (59.4 percent) of the 79 samples. Conclusions: through the scanning electron microscopy, it was possible to identify morphological anomalies in the spermatozoa from men who went to the infertility service. These spermatozoa had been reported as morphologically normal in the optical microscopy exam(AU)

Qualitative parameters of the piapara semen (Leporinus elongatus Valenciennes, 1850) / Parâmetros qualitativos do sêmen de piapara (Leporinus elongatus Valenciennes, 1850)

Qualitative parameters of piapara semen (Leporinus elongatus) were evaluated before and after hormonal induction with carp pituitary extract at 2.5 mg.kg-1 of live weight. The progressive motility, the spermatic vigor and the lifetime of the spermatozoa were higher before the hormonal induction (P > 0.05). The percentage of normal spermatozoa and spermatozoa with secondary pathologies did not differ (P > 0.05) between treatments: before induction (44.0 and 44.4 percent, respectively) and after-induction (44.3 and 46.7 percent, respectively). However, the percentage of primary pathologies was higher (P < 0.05) for the semen collected before induction than for the semen collected after induction; the estimates were 12.2 and 8.0 percent, respectively. The most frequent pathologies were the taillessness with the frequencies of 27.4 and 36.3 percent followed by the headlessness for which the estimates were 10.1 and 3.9 percent, before and after induction respectively. The semen collected before the hormonal induction presented better qualitative parameters.

Os parâmetros qualitativos do sêmen de piaparas (Leporinus elongatus) foram avaliados antes e após a indução hormonal com o extrato de hipófise de carpa na dosagem 2,5 mg.kg-1 de peso vivo. A motilidade progressiva, o vigor espermático e o tempo de vida dos espermatozóides apresentaram valores superiores (P < 0,05) no sêmen coletado antes da indução hormonal. Já a estimativa da porcentagem de espermatozóides normais ou com patologias leves, na pré-indução (44,0 e 44,4 por cento, respectivamente) e na pós-indução hormonal (44,3 e 46,7 por cento, respectivamente) não diferiram (P > 0,05) entre os tratamentos. Porém a estimativa de patologias graves foi maior (P < 0,05) no sêmen de pré-indução do que no pós-induzido com 12,2 e 8 por cento, respectivamente. A patologia mais freqüente foi cabeça solta com 27,4 e 36,3 por cento seguida por cauda solta com 10,1 e 3,9 por cento, antes e após a indução hormonal respectivamente. De acordo com os resultados, o sêmen de piapara coletado na pré-indução hormonal apresentou os melhores parâmetros qualitativos.