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Overcome Male Infertility – What is Sperm Penetration Assay (Hamster Test)?
As we mentioned in previous articles, infertility is defined as inability of a couple to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sexual intercourse or can not carry the pregnancy to term. It effects over 5 millions couple alone in the U. S. and many times more in the world. Because of unawareness of treatments, only 10% seeks help from professional specialist. In this article, we will discuss what is male infertility sperm penetration assay (hamster test)??
sperm penetration assay (SPA),
a test for the ability of spermatozoa to penetrate oocytes in vitro. Hamster oocytes that lack the zona pellucida are exposed to the spermatozoa in question. Such zona-free oocytes can undergo heterologous membrane fusion with the membranes of spermatozoa that have undergone the acrosome reaction. An assessment is then made of the proportion of oocytes that have been successfully penetrated.
I. Definition
With the hamster egg stripping off the outer layer, the test is to check the ability of the infertile male sperm in egg penetration.
II. Procedure
This test is done in clinic laboratory with semen sperm taken through masturbation. The hamster egg is stripped off the outer layer and sperm of infertile male are put into a tube.
III. Diagnosis
After a certain time, the combination in the tube is checked for
1. If the penetration rate is anywhere higher than 10%, the semen sperm is considered to have a good chance to penetrate the human egg for fertilization.
2. If the penetration rate is less than 10%, the risk in human egg penetrating is diminished and the rate in fertilizing the female partner egg is decreased substantially. The test is normal used if the male partner is having symptoms of low sperm count, a healthy man with unexplained causes of infertility.
IV. Risk
Although the test is considered very accurate, but inability to penetrate the hamster egg does not imply the sperm can not penetrate the human egg.