Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Male Sterility and Motility Disorders pp 65–78Cite as

Necrospermia: Etiology and Management

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Serono Symposia USA ((SERONOSYMP))

Abstract

Necrozoospermia is still a poorly understood cause of male infertility. It is defined as a condition in which spermatozoa in the ejaculated semen are dead. According to sperm norms of the World Health Organization (WHO) (1), sperm viability is higher than or equal to 75% in human semen samples. Fertility of the semen is impaired below this percentage. Necrozoospermia is a rare condition with a reported prevalence of 0.2-0.48% in infertile subjects (2,3).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. World Health Organization. WHO laboratory manual for the examination of human semen and sperm cervical mucus interaction, 3rd Edition. London: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Phadke AM, Samant NR, Dewal SD. Seminal fructose content in necrospermia. Fertil Steril 1975;26:1021–27.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wilton LJ, Temple-Smith PD, Gordon Baker HW, de Kretser DM. Human male infertility caused by degeneration and death of sperm in the epididymis. Fertil Steril 1988;49:1052–58.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Schwartzman RA, Cidlowski JA. Apoptosis: the biochemistry and molecular biology of programmed cell death. Endocrinol Rev 1993;14:133–51.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Majno G, Joris I. Apoptosis, oncosis and necrosis. Am J Pathol 1995;146:3–15.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Duvall E, Wyllie AH. Death and the cell. Immunol Today 1986;7:115–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kerr JFR, Wyllie AH, Currie AR. Apoptosis: a basic biological phenomenon with wide-ranging implications in tissue kinetics. Br J Cancer 1972;26:239–57.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Martimbeau S, Tilly JL. Physiological cell death in endocrine-dependent tissues: an ovarian perspective. Clin Endocrinol 1997;46:241–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Vaux DL. Toward an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of physiological cell death. ProcNatl Acad Sci 1993;90:786–89.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Reed JC. Bcl-2 and the regulation of programmed cell death. J Cell Biol 1994;124:1–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Miyashita T, Reed JC. Tumor suppressor p53 is a direct transcriptional activator of the human box gene. Cell 1995;80:293–99.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Russell LD, Clermont Y. Degeneration of germ cells in normal, hypophysecto-mized and hormone-treated hypophysectomized rats. Anat Rec 1977;87:347–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Tapanainen J, Tilly JL, Vikho KK, Hsueh AJW. Hormonal control of apoptotic cell death in the testis: gonadotropins and androgens as testicular cells survival factors. Mol Endocrinol 1993;7:643–50.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Sinha Hikim AP, Wang C, Leung A, Swerdloff R. Involvement of apoptosis in the induction of germ cell degeneration in adult rats after gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment. Endocrinology 1995;136:2770–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Brinkworth MH, Weinbauer GF, Bergmann M, Nieshlag E. Apoptosis as a mechanism of germ cell loss in elderly men. Int J Androl 1997;20:222–28.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Roosen-Runge EC. The generation of pre-spermatogonial germ cells in the rat after birth. Anat Rec 1964;148:328.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Miething A. Germ-cell death during prespermatogenesis in the testis of the golden hamster. Cell Tissue Res 1992;267:583–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hockenberry DM, Zutter M, Hickey W, Nahm M, Korsmeyer SJ. BCL2 protein is topographically restricted in tissues characterized by apopototic cell death. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1991;88:6961–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Knudson CM, Tung KSK, Tourtellotte WG, Brown GAJ, Korsmeyer SJ. Bax-deficient mice with lymphoid hyperplasia and male germ cell death. Science 1995;270:96–99.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Krajewski S, Krajewska M, Shabaik A, Miyashita T, Wang HG, Reed JC. Immu-nohistochemical determination of in vivo distribution of Bax, a dominant inhibitor ofBcl-2. Am J Pathol 1994;145:1323–26.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Hockenberry DM, Oltvai ZN, Yin XM, Milliman CL, Korsmeyer SJ. Bcl-2 functions as an antioxidant pathway to prevent apoptosis. Cell 1993;75:241–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Aitken RJ. A free radical theory of male infertility. Reprod Fertil Dev 1994;6:19–24.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. de Lamirande E, Gagnon C. Reactive oxygen species and human spermatozoa. I. Effects on the motility and on sperm axonems. J Androl 1992;13:368–78.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Plante M, De Lamirande E, Gagnon C. Reactive oxygen species released by activated neutrophils, but not by deficient spermatozoa, are sufficient to affect normal sperm motility. Fertil Steril 1994;62:387–92.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Aitken RJ, Buckingham DW, Brindle J, Gomez E, Gordon Baker HW, Irvine DS. Analysis of sperm movement in relation to the oxidative stress created by leukocytes in washed sperm preparations and seminal plasma. Hum Reprod 1995;10:2061–71.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Perry ACF, Jones R, Hall L. Isolation and characterization of a rat cDNA clone encoding a secreted Superoxide dismutase reveals the epididymis to be a major site of its expression. Biochem J 1993;293:21–25.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Kobayashi T, Miyazaki T, Natori M, Nozawa S. Protective role of Superoxide dismutase in human sperm motility: Superoxide dismutase activity and lipid perox-ide in human seminal plasma and spermatozoa. Hum Reprod 1991;7:987–91.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Zini A, De Lamirande E, Gagnon C. Reactive oxygen species in semen of infertile patients: levels of superoxyde dismutase-and catalase-like activities in seminal plasma and spermatozoa. Int J Androl 1993;16:183–88.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Jeulin C, Soufir JC, Webert P, Laval-Martin D, Calvayrac R. Catalase activity in human spermatozoa and seminal plasma. Gamete Res 1989;24:185–96.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Alvarez JG, Storey BT. Role of glutathione peroxidase in protecting mammalian spermatozoa from loss of motility caused by spontaneous lipid peroxidation. Gamete Res 1989;23:77–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Gavella M, Lipovac V, Vucic M, Rocic B. Superoxide anion scavenging capacity of human seminal plasma. Int JAndrol 1996;19:82–90.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Benhamed M. Tumor necrosis factor in the male gonad. Contracept Fertil Sex 1997;25:569–71.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Comhaire FE, Bosmans W, Ombelet U, Punjabi H, Schoonjans F. Cytokines in semen of normal men and of patients with andrological diseases. Am J Reprod Immunol 1994;31:99–103.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Naz RK, Chaturvedi MM, Aggarwal BB. Role of cytokines and protooncogenes in sperm cell function: relevance to immunologic infertility. Am J Reprod Immunol 1994;32:26–37.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Estrada LS, Champion HC, Wang R, et al. Effect of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) on human sperm motility, viability and motion parameters. Int J Androl 1997;20:237–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Whitman ED, Doherty GM, Peplinski GR, Norton JA. Role of cytokines in oxydative damage. In: Aggarwal B, Puri R, editors. Human cytokines: their role in disease and therapy, Chapter 22. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 1995:333.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Sikka S, Rajasekaran M, Hellstrom W. Role of oxidative stress and antioxidants in male infertility. J Androl 1995;16:464–68.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Buch JP, Kolon TF, Maulik N, Kreutzer DL, Das DK. Cytokines stimulate membrane lipid peroxidation of human sperm. Fertil Steril 1994;62:186–88.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Nagata S, Goldstein P. The Fas death factor. Science 1995;267:1449–56.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Gerhard I, Lenhard K, Eggert-Kruse W, Runnebaum B. Clinical data which influence semen parameters in infertile men. Hum Reprod 1992;7:830–37.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Clavert A, Cranz C, Tardieu J. Epididymis and genital infections. In: Hamamah S, Mieusset R, Dacheux J-L, editors. Frontiers in endocrinology. Epididymis role and importance in male infertility treatment, Vol. 11. Rome: Ares Serono Symposia, 1995:203–10.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Cooper TJ. Functions of human epididymis. In: Hamamah S, Mieusset R, Dacheux J-L, editors. Frontiers in endocrinology. Epididymis role and importance in male infertility treatment, Vol. 11. Rome: Ares Serono Symposia, 1995:1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Mortimer D, Templeton AA, Lenton EA, Coleman RA. Influence of abstinence and ejaculation-to-analysis delay on semen analysis parameters of suspected infertile men. Arch Androl 1982;8:2516–20.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Sinisi AA, di Finizio B, Pasquali D, Corini A, Apuzzo D, Bellastella A. Prevalence of antisperm antibodies by sperm MAR test in subjects undergoing a routine sperm analysis for infertility. Int J Androl 1993;16:311–14.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. El Gothamy Z, El Samahy H. Ultrastructure sperm defects in addicts. Fertil Steril 1992;47:699–702.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Villegas H, Pinon M, Shor V, Karchmer S. Electron microscopy of Chlamydia trachomatis infection of the male genital tract. Arch Androl 1991;27:117–26.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Hustin J, Koulischer L. Microscopie électronique des spermatozoïdes. Indications et résultats. Acta Urol Belg 1989;57:17–28.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Gopalkrishnan K, Padwal V, D′Souza S, Shah R. Severe asthenozoospermia: a structural and functional study. Int J Androl 1995;18(Suppl l):67–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Lerda D, Rizzi R. Study of reproductive function in persons occupationally exposed to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Mutat Res 1991;262:47–50.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Kleinschmidt K, Weissbach L, Holstein AF. Fruherkennung des kontralateralen zweitkarzinoms bei hodentumorpatienten durch das carcinoma in situ testis. Urologe A 1989;28:281–84.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Jardin A, Izard V, Benoit G, Testart J, Belaisch-Allart J, Volante M, et al. Fécondance in vivo et in vitro de spermatozoïdes épididymaires humains immatures. Reprod Nutr Devl 1988;28:1375–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Cummins JM, Temple-Smith PD, Rentrée MB. Reproduction in male honeypossum (Tarsipes rostratus Marsupialia): the epididymis. Am J Anat 1986;177:385–93.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Palermo G, Joris H, Devroey P, Van Sterteighem AC. Pregnancies after intracyto-plasmic injection of single spermatozoon into an oocyte. Lancet 1992;340:17–18.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Tournaye H, Liu J, Nagy Z, Verheyen G, Van Steirteghem A, Devroey P. The use of testicular sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection in patients with necrozoospermia. Fertil Steril 1996;66:331–34.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Cummins JM, Jequier AM. Concerns and recommendations for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment. Hum Reprod 1995;10(Suppl l):138–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Nduwayo L, Barthélémy C, Lansac J, Tharanne MJ, Lecomte P. Necrospermia and human male infertility. Contracept Fertil Sex 1995;23:682–85.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Skakkebaek NE, Giwercman A, De Kretser D. Pathogenesis and management of male infertility. Lancet 1994;343:1473–74.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Zamboni L. Sperm pathology and infertility. Fertil Steril 1987;48:726–31.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Pierre J. Lecomte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claire Barthelemy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Leonard Nduwayo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Samir Hamamah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Service de FIV, Hôpital A. Béclère, 92141, Clamart cedex, France

    Samir Hamamah Ph.D.

  2. Service de Gynéco-Obstétrique, Hôpital A. Béclère, 157, rue de la Porte-de-Trivaux, 92141, Clamart cedex, France

    François Olivennes M.D., Ph.D.  & René Frydman Ph.D.  & 

  3. Centre de Stérilité Masculine, Hôpital de la Grave, 31052, Toulouse cedex, France

    Roger Mieusset M.D.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lecomte, P.J., Barthelemy, C., Nduwayo, L., Hamamah, S. (1999). Necrospermia: Etiology and Management. In: Hamamah, S., Olivennes, F., Mieusset, R., Frydman, R. (eds) Male Sterility and Motility Disorders. Serono Symposia USA. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1522-6_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1522-6_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7177-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1522-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation