Infertile spermatozoa in a human carrier of Robertsonian translocation (14;22)

Objective: To present the ultrastructural, functional, and chromosomal analyses of spermatozoa from an infertile man with normal phenotype and chromosomal translocation 14;22. Design: Case report. Setting: Regional Reference Center for Male Infertility in Siena, Italy. Patient(s): A 36-year-old man with primary infertility for 3 years and his parents. Intervention(s): Family history and lymphocytic karyotypes, physical and hormonal assays, and semen analysis. Main Outcome Measure(s): Morphological sperm evaluation was performed by light, fluorescent, and electron microscopy; chromosomal constitution was examined by the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique. The penetration ability of spermatozoa was checked by the hamster test. Result(s): The spermatozoa of the patient showed unusual ultrastructural defects. The nuclei were large, spheroidal, and generally uncondensed; the acrosomes were frequently absent or reduced; and the axonemes were often devoid of dynein arms or central singlet tubules. These characteristics are related to immaturity. The lymphocytic karyotype revealed a robertsonian translocation 14;22 in the sterile patient and his mother. FISH sperm analysis demonstrated a high frequency of diploidy for the chromosome 18,XY. The hamster penetration test gave negative results. Conclusion(s): The unusual structural sperm immaturity is associated with the translocation 14;22. This chromosomal anomaly may therefore negatively influence the spermatogenesis; an interchromosomal effect on meiosis segregation is also suggested.