A quick, reliable staining technique for human sperm morphology

Arch Androl. 1987;18(3):275-7. doi: 10.3109/01485018708988493.

Abstract

The evaluation of sperm morphology is still an important parameter in the diagnosis of the infertile male. Most techniques used for staining human sperm are very time-consuming. A routine stain used for determining differential count of leucocytes (Diff-Quik stain) was evaluated against the standard Papanicolaou stain. Morphology results from 20 duplicate semen smears using both staining methods were determined separately by 2 technicians using a blind protocol. No significant differences were observed when comparing the two staining methods (paired Student's t-test). The advantages of the Diff-Quik stain are: a) complete staining-to-reading time under 7 min, b) commercially prepared reagents, and c) case of staining procedure.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Infertility, Male / pathology*
  • Male
  • Oligospermia / pathology
  • Spermatozoa / pathology*
  • Staining and Labeling / methods*