Should We Perform Semen Analysis, Dna Fragmentation, and Hypo-Osmotic Swelling Tests Together?

Semen analysis, sperm dna fragmentation (sdf) and hypo-osmotic swelling test (host) are usually performed for the evaluation of sperm fertilizing ability. there are some debates over the necessity of sdf and host incorporation in male infertility work-up.semen of 77 men was evaluated by sdf and host through three semen analyses. sperm parameters were arranged into different categories: <5%, 5-15%, >15% for normal morphology; <50%, 50-70%, >70 % for motility; and <10, 10-20, 21-34, 35-50, >50 million/ml for concentration. sdf analysis was performed and values under 30% were assumed to be normal. normal range of host was considered to be >60%.only normal sperm morphology had significant relationship with df rate (p<0.001). normal morphology, motility, and concentration of sperms had significant relationship with host (p<0.001, 0.05, and <0.003,respectively). there was a significant negative correlation between sperm morphology and df rate. the correlations between sperm parameters and percentage of host were significantly positive (r: 0.44, 0.19, and 0.32 for morphology, motility, and concentration, respectively). receiver operating characteristic curve (roc) showed that sperm morphology is a strong predictor of the rate of df and host (accuracy: 0.74‚ and 0.81, respectively). the best sperm morphology cut off point for df and host rate prediction was 4.5% and 5.5%, respectively.sperm morphology had significant correlation with df rate and host and is supposed to be a predictor for these tests. performing these three tests collectively for evaluation of semen samples would not be necessarily required in all cases.