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Infertility Essay

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Infertility is a significant and common problem; approximately 9% of couples throughout the world are infertile with 56% of couples needing treatment (Boivin et al, 2007). Study by Mike Hull demonstrated that sperm dysfunction is the single most common cause of male infertility (Hull, 1985). This observation has been confirmed by other studies with report that dysfunctional sperm may exist against entirely normal semen analysis and conversely normal sperm function with very poor samples (oligozoospermia) (3-4 in Cris paper). Without a clear understanding at cellular and molecular level of sperm dysfunction, the only effective treatment for these cases is assisted reproductive technology (ART). It is generally accepted that diagnostic and …show more content…

Correlation with other function

A plethora of clinical studies on hyperactivation have suggested that (1) the percentage of hyperactivated sperm correlates significantly with fertilisation rate both in vivo and in vitro, however, study by Guerin and colleagues failed to find a significant correlation between hyperactivation and IVF outcomes (2) the potential differences in proportion of hyperactivated cells (spontaneous and in response to physiological or artificial stimulants) in men with proven fertility and subfertile patients. Although these clinical observations suggest that hyperactivation has some predictive value for fertilisatin and a significant role in male fertility, measuring hyperactivation levels is not robust enough to be used clinically. A main reason for this is lack of uniform accepted criteria used to define hyperactivation (oehngier, 2000), making comparison data from different studies impossible. As such, there is an urgent need to validate hyperactivation assay before draw any conclusion of its application clinically. Additionally, all hyperactivation and sperm kinematic analysis should follow guidelines for hyperactivation assessments and using appropriate quality control procedures for application of CASA (computer-aided sperm analyser) as recommended by ESHRE Andrology Special Interest Group in 1998 to generate reliable results.

Ca2+ signalling has a pivotal

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