Table 1. Summary of sperm attributes and possible methods for evaluation.
Sperm attribute | Possible methods |
---|---|
Enumeration of spermatozoa | True volumetric counting, fluorescent staining |
Plasma membrane integrity | SYBR-14/PI, CFDA |
Plasma membrane permeability and stability | Annexin V/PI , Hoechst 33342, YO-PRO-1, Merocyanine 540, SNARF-1, ethidium homodimer |
Acrosome integrity | SYBR-14/PE-PNA/PI, FITC-PNA/PI, FITC-PSA/PI |
Mitochondrial status | JC-1, Mitotracker Green, Mitotracker Deep Red |
Chromatin intactness | SCSA, TUNEL, CMA3 |
Apoptotic-like changes | Annexin V/PI, YO-PRO-1 |
Oxidative stress | H2DCFDA, HE, MITOSOX, BODIPY probes |
Abbreviations: CFDA, carboxyfluorescein diacetate; CMA3, chromomycin A3; FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate; H2DCFDA, 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate; HE, hydroethidine; JC-1, 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolylcarbocyanine iodide; PE, phycoerythrin; PI, propidium iodide; PNA, peanut agglutinin; PSA, Pisum sativum agglutinin; SCSA, sperm chromatin structure assay; SNARF-1, seminaphtorhodafluor-1; TUNEL, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling.