Sperm motion characteristics in men with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism treated with gonadotropin

The authors compared curvilinear velocity (Vc) and linearity (L) of sperm from fertile oligospermic men with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) to Vc and L of sperm from fertile normal men in order to determine if sperm motion analysis is better than sperm density as an indicator of fertility potential. Nine fertile men with IHH treated with exogenous gonadotropins and 20 fertile normal men were studied. Sperm density was significantly lower in the men with IHH compared with normal men (15.5 ± 4.8 × 106/ml versus 92.4 ± 9.7 × 106/ml; mean ± standard error of the mean [SEM]; P < 0.01) as was percent motility (51.4 ± 4.7 versus 73.4 ± 3.1; P < 0.01). While a small but significant difference in Vc was noted between the groups at the 40 μm/second cumulative distribution point (P < 0.01), no difference in L was found between the two groups. When the men with IHH were subgrouped according to sperm density (>20 × 106/ml versus ≤20 × 106/ml, no differences in Vc were found between the subsets, but for L sperm were somewhat less directional for the subgroup with a density ≤20 × 106/ml (P = 0.05). Coanalysis using both Vc and L parameters indicated that sperm from IHH patients were distributed similarly to sperm from normal men. However, sperm motion characteristics in men with unexplained infertility were different from values measured in normal men and IHH patients. From our data, we conclude that automated sperm motion analysis is a better indicator of fertility potential than sperm density.