|
|
CASE REPORT |
 |
|
|
|
| Year : 2009 | Volume
: 2
| Issue : 2 | Page : 81-82 |
| |
Successful pregnancies and a live birth after intracytoplasmic sperm injection in globozoospermia
Manish R Banker, Pravin M Patel, Bharat V Joshi, Preeti B Shah, Rakhi Goyal
Pulse Women's Hospital, Ahmedabad, India
| Date of Submission | 15-Jul-2009 |
| Date of Decision | 18-Sep-2009 |
| Date of Acceptance | 19-Sep-2009 |
| Date of Web Publication | 24-Oct-2009 |
Correspondence Address:
Manish R Banker
Pulse Women's Hospital, 108, Swastik Society, Bh. St. Xavier's Ladies Hostel, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380 009
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0974-1208.57228
 Abstract | | |
Globozoospermia is a severe form of teratozoospermia characterized by round-headed acrosomeless spermatozoa. Here we present two successful pregnancies and a live birth after intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
Keywords: Globozoospermia, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, male factor infertility
How to cite this article:
Banker MR, Patel PM, Joshi BV, Shah PB, Goyal R. Successful pregnancies and a live birth after intracytoplasmic sperm injection in globozoospermia. J Hum Reprod Sci 2009;2:81-2 |
How to cite this URL:
Banker MR, Patel PM, Joshi BV, Shah PB, Goyal R. Successful pregnancies and a live birth after intracytoplasmic sperm injection in globozoospermia. J Hum Reprod Sci [serial online] 2009 [cited 2021 Sep 19];2:81-2. Available from: https://www.jhrsonline.org/text.asp?2009/2/2/81/57228 |
| Introduction | |  |
Globozoospermia is a rare disorder causing male infertility (incidence <0.1%). [1] It is diagnosed by the presence of 100% round headed spermatozoa and was first described by Schirren et al. [2] Many case reports have elucidated the morphological and functional abnormalities in cases of globozoospermia but the underlying causes remain unclear. [2],[3]
The main morphological defects in the disorder include an absent or severely malformed acrosome. [3] An increased aneuploidy rate has been observed in some cases, on cytogenetic analysis, mostly in the acrocentric (13, 14, 15, 18 and 21) and sex chromosomes but the findings are similar to other types of male infertility. [4] Increased DNA fragmentation and DNA damage has also been noted. [5],[6] The pathogenesis of globozoospermia most probably originates in spermiogenesis, especially in acrosome formation and sperm head elongation. [1],[2],[3]
In globozoospermia there is an absence of acrosomal structures leading to absence of spermatozoa binding to zone pellucida. [7] Before the advent of ICSI, these men were considered sterile as conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) [8] and sub zonal insemination, [9] failed in these patients. However, even with use of ICSI, variable fertilization and cleavage rates have been described in these cases, with some reporting fertilization failure due to failure of oocyte activation. [10] Various pregnancies and live births reported till now are either with conventional ICSI or with use of oocyte activation measures like calcium ionophore. [11] Here we report two successful cases of pregnancies in couples with globozoospermia with use of ICSI without oocyte activation.
| Case Reports | | |
Case 1
The couple presented to us with a primary infertility of six years duration. The 24-year-old woman had regular ovulatory cycles, normal hormonal profile and normal laparoscopy and hysteroscopy (carried out earlier). The previous spermiogram report of her 29-year-old husband showed a sperm count of 48 million/ml, with 30% actively motile and 36% morphologically abnormal sperm. They had undergone three intra uterine insemination cycles previously. Two fresh semen analyses at our clinic showed normal count and motility and 100% globozoospermia. The woman was stimulated using long protocol with 0.5 mg of Leuprolide acetate (Lupride® Sun Pharmaceuticals, India) and 225 IU of highly purified human menopausal gonadotrophin (Menopur® Ferring, Germany). Fourteen oocytes were retrieved - one at germinal vesicle (GV) stage and 13 - metaphase-II (M-II). Husband's ejaculated semen sample was allowed to liquefy and double layer density gradient (90 and 45%, Spermgrad® Vitrolife, Sweden) was used for semen preparation. After 20 minutes of centrifugation at 300xg, pellet was aspirated and washed with sperm wash media. ICSI was performed on 13 M-II oocytes. The embryological details are summarized in [Table 1]. The woman failed to conceive in this cycle and a subsequent thaw embryo transfer cycle also failed.
A second fresh stimulation cycle was carried out as above with retrieval of seven M-II oocytes and transfer of two embryos. Serum β-hCG on day 15, after embryo transfer, was found to be positive. She had a spontaneous missed abortion at five weeks amenorrhea.
Case 2
Another couple came to us with a history of primary infertility of nine years. The 29-year-old woman had a normal infertility workup with normal hysteroscopy, laparoscopy and hormonal profile. The 34-year-old male partner's previous three semen analyses showed five, 50 and 100% morphological abnormalities. A fresh semen sample at our clinic revealed a count of 35 million/ml, with 40% active motility and 100% having globozoospermia. The ovaries were stimulated using long protocol with 0.5 mg of Leuprolide acetate and 225 IU of recombinant FSH (Gonal-f® Serono, Switzerland). Ten M-II and 5 GV stage oocytes were retrieved. Semen preparation was done as in case 1. A pregnancy did not ensue. A second ICSI attempt was made using the same stimulation protocol. The embryological details are summarized in [Table 1].The subsequent embryo transfer resulted in a pregnancy which was uneventful. An elective caesarean section was done at 37 weeks with the birth of a healthy male child weighing 2.6 kgs.
| Discussion | | |
Only 21 pregnancies and 17 deliveries have been reported in globozoospermic patients (13 pregnancies and 10 deliveries without oocyte activation and rest with oocyte activation respectively). [11] Although ICSI procedure provides an answer to this problem of globozoospermia, a timely and detailed careful semen examination by appropriately trained and experienced personnel in such couples would save them from unnecessary investigations and treatment as seen in both the above cases.
The lack of acrosome reaction and failure to penetrate zona pellucida in IVF is overcome by the use of ICSI. But still the fertilization rates remain low ranging from zero to 100%. [11] We also observed a similarly low fertilization rate (12.5 - 30.7%).
Dam et al. found 99 cases of globozoospermia having been reported since the first Schirren case; no increase in abortion, miscarriage rates or aneuploidy/birth defects has been noted in the offspring of such men though the cases are few in number. [11]
The only treatment option in such cases is ICSI with or without oocyte activation. Repeated treatment cycles can be performed. No apparent predictors of success have been identified till now.
| References | | |
| 1. | Holstein AF, Schirren CG, Schirren C, Mauss J. Round headed spermatozoa: A cause of male infertility. Dtsch Med Wochenschr 1973;98:61-2.  [PUBMED] |
| 2. | Schirren CG, Holstein AF and Schirren C. Uber die Morphogenese rund-kopfiger Spermatzoen des menschen. Andrologia 1971;3:117-25. |
| 3. | Lalonde L, Langlais J, Antaki P, Chapdelaine A, Roberts KD, Bleau G. Male infertility associated with roundheaded acrosomeless spermatozoa. Fertil Steril 1988;49:316-32. [PUBMED] |
| 4. | Machev N, Gosset P, Viville S. Chromosome abnormalities in sperm from infertile men with normal somatic karyotypes: Teratozoospermia. Cytogenet Genome Res 2005;111:352-7. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
| 5. | Vicari E, Perdichizzi A, De Palma A, Burrello N, D'Agata R, Calogero AE. Globozoospermia is associated with chromatin structure abnormalities: Case report. Hum Reprod 2002;17:2128-33. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
| 6. | Sutovsky P, Terada Y, Schatten G. Ubiquitin-based sperm assay for the diagnosis of male factor infertility. Hum Reprod 2001;16:250-8. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
| 7. | Weissenberg R, Eshkol A, Rudak E, Lunenfeld B. Inability of round acrosomeless human spermatozoa to penetrate zona-free hamster ova. Arch Androl 1983;11:167-9. [PUBMED] |
| 8. | Schmiady H, Radke E, Kentenich H. Round-headed spermatozoa - contraindication for IVF. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd 1992;52:301-3. [PUBMED] |
| 9. | Dale B, Iaccarino M, Fortunato A, Gragnaniello G, Kyozuka K, Tosti E. A morphological and functional study of fusibility in round-headed spermatozoa in the human. Fertil Steril 1994;61:336-40. [PUBMED] |
| 10. | Rybouchkin A, Dozortsev D, Pelinck MJ, De Sutter P, Dhont M. Analysis of the oocyte activating capacity and chromosomal complement of round-headed human spermatozoa by their injection into mouse oocytes. Hum Reprod 1996;11:2170-5. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
| 11. | Dam AH, Feenstra I, Westphal JR, Ramos L, van Golde RJ, Kremer JA. Globozoospermia revisited. Hum Reprod Update 2007;13:63-75. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
[Table 1]
| This article has been cited by | | 1 |
First successful pregnancy in a globozoospermic patient having homozygous mutation in SPATA16 |
|
| Nilay Karaca,Rabiye Yilmaz,Gulcin E. Kanten,Elif Kervancioglu,Seyhun Solakoglu,M.Ertan Kervancioglu | | Fertility and Sterility. 2014; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 2 |
Assisted oocyte activation overcomes fertilization failure in globozoospermic patients regardless of the DPY19L2 status |
|
| P. Kuentz,F. Vanden Meerschaut,E. ElInati,M. H. Nasr-Esfahani,T. Gurgan,N. Iqbal,F. Carre-Pigeon,F. Brugnon,S. A. Gitlin,J. Velez de la Calle,Z. Kilani,P. De Sutter,S. Viville | | Human Reproduction. 2013; 28(4): 1054 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 3 |
Reproductive outcomes in patients with male infertility because of Klinefelter's syndrome, Kartagener's syndrome, round-head sperm, dysplasia fibrous sheath, and ‘stump’ tail sperm |
|
| S.A. Dávila Garza,Pasquale Patrizio | | Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2013; 25(3): 229 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 4 |
Reproductive outcomes in patients with male infertility because of Klinefelteræs syndrome, Kartageneræs syndrome, round-head sperm, dysplasia fibrous sheath, and æstumpæ tail sperm: An updated literature review |
|
| Dávila Garza, S.A. and Patrizio, P. | | Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2013; 25(3): 229-246 | | [Pubmed] | | | 5 |
Assisted oocyte activation overcomes fertilization failure in globozoospermic patients regardless of the DPY19L2 status |
|
| Kuentz, P. and Vanden Meerschaut, F. and Elinati, E. and Nasr-Esfahani, M.H. and Gurgan, T. and Iqbal, N. and Carré-Pigeon, F. and Brugnon, F. and Gitlin, S.A. and Velez De La Calle, J. and Kilani, Z. and De Sutter, P. and Viville, S. | | Human Reproduction. 2013; 28(4): 1054-1061 | | [Pubmed] | | | 6 |
Autosomal mutations and human spermatogenic failure |
|
| El Inati, E. and Muller, J. and Viville, S. | | Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular Basis of Disease. 2012; 1822(12): 1873-1879 | | [Pubmed] | | | 7 |
Motile sperm organelle morphology evaluation-selected globozoospermic human sperm with an acrosomal bud exhibits novel patterns and higher levels of phospholipase C zeta |
|
| Kashir, J. and Sermondade, N. and Sifer, C. and Oo, S.L. and Jones, C. and Mounce, G. and Turner, K. and Child, T. and McVeigh, E. and Coward, K. | | Human Reproduction. 2012; 27(11): 3150-3160 | | [Pubmed] | | | 8 |
Globozoospermia is mainly due to dpy19l2 deletion via non-allelic homologous recombination involving two recombination hotspots |
|
| Elinati, E. and Kuentz, P. and Redin, C. and Jaber, S. and Vanden Meerschaut, F. and Makarian, J. and Koscinski, I. and Nasr-Esfahani, M.H. and Demirol, A. and Gurgan, T. and Louanjli, N. and Iqbal, N. and Bisharah, M. and Pigeon, F.C. and Gourabi, H. and De Briel, D. and Brugnon, F. and Gitlin, S.A. and Grillo, J. and Ghaedi, K. and Deemeh, M.R. and Tanhaei, S. and Modarres, P. and Heindryckx, B. and Benkhalifa, M. and Nikiforaki, D. and Oehninger, S.C. and De Sutter, P. and Muller, J. and Viville, S. | | Human Molecular Genetics. 2012; 21(16): 3695-3702 | | [Pubmed] | | | 9 |
Genetic disorders related to male factor infertility and their adverse consequences |
|
| Harnisch, B. and Oates, R. | | Seminars in Reproductive Medicine. 2012; 30(2): 105-115 | | [Pubmed] | | | 10 |
Tales of the Tail and Sperm Head AchesChanging concepts on the prognostic significance of sperm pathologies affecting the head, neck and tail |
|
| Chemes, H.E. and Alvarez Sedo, C. | | Asian Journal of Andrology. 2012; 14(1): 14-23 | | [Pubmed] | | | 11 |
Acrosomal biogenesis in human globozoospermia: immunocytochemical, ultrastructural and proteomic studies |
|
| C. Alvarez Sedo, V. Y. Rawe, H. E. Chemes | | Human Reproduction. 2012; | | [VIEW] | [DOI] | | | 12 |
Autosomal mutations and human spermatogenic failure |
|
| Elias El Inati,Jean Muller,Stéphane Viville | | Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease. 2012; 1822(12): 1873 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 13 |
Motile sperm organelle morphology evaluation-selected globozoospermic human sperm with an acrosomal bud exhibits novel patterns and higher levels of phospholipase C zeta |
|
| J. Kashir,N. Sermondade,C. Sifer,S. L. Oo,C. Jones,G. Mounce,K. Turner,T. Child,E. McVeigh,K. Coward | | Human Reproduction. 2012; 27(11): 3150 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 14 |
Globozoospermia is mainly due to DPY19L2 deletion via non-allelic homologous recombination involving two recombination hotspots |
|
| E. ElInati,P. Kuentz,C. Redin,S. Jaber,F. Vanden Meerschaut,J. Makarian,I. Koscinski,M. H. Nasr-Esfahani,A. Demirol,T. Gurgan,N. Louanjli,N. Iqbal,M. Bisharah,F. C. Pigeon,H. Gourabi,D. De Briel,F. Brugnon,S. A. Gitlin,J.-M. Grillo,K. Ghaedi,M. R. Deemeh,S. Tanhaei,P. Modarres,B. Heindryckx,M. Benkhalifa,D. Nikiforaki,S. C. Oehninger,P. De Sutter,J. Muller,S. Viville | | Human Molecular Genetics. 2012; 21(16): 3695 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 15 |
Molecular cytogenetic and genetic aspects of globozoospermia: a review |
|
| A. Perrin, C. Coat, M. H. Nguyen, M. Talagas, F. Morel, J. Amice, M. Braekeleer | | Andrologia. 2012; : n/a | | [VIEW] | [DOI] | | | 16 |
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection in partial globozoospermia |
|
| Anika H.D.M. Dam, Adriënne J.E. Pijnenburg, Jan C.M. Hendriks, Hans Westphal, Liliana Ramos, Jan A.M. Kremer | | Fertility and Sterility. 2011; | | [VIEW] | [DOI] | | | 17 |
DPY19L2 deletion as a major cause of globozoospermia |
|
| Koscinski, I., Elinati, E., Fossard, C., Redin, C., Muller, J., Velez De La Calle, J., Schmitt, F., (...), Viville, S. | | American Journal of Human Genetics. 2011; 88(3): 344-350 | | [Pubmed] | | | 18 |
Successful childbirth after intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection without assisted oocyte activation in a patient with globozoospermia |
|
| N. Sermondade, E. Hafhouf, C. Dupont, S. Bechoua, C. Palacios, F. Eustache, C. Poncelet, B. Benzacken, R. Levy, C. Sifer | | Human Reproduction. 2011; | | [VIEW] | [DOI] | | | 19 |
Tales of the Tail and Sperm Head Aches |
|
| Héctor E Chemes, Cristian Alvarez Sedo | | Asian Journal of Andrology. 2011; | | [VIEW] | [DOI] | | | 20 |
DPY19L2 Deletion as a Major Cause of Globozoospermia |
|
| Isabelle Koscinski,Elias ElInati,Camille Fossard,Claire Redin,Jean Muller,Juan Velez de la Calle,Françoise Schmitt,Mariem Ben Khelifa,Pierre Ray,Zaid Kilani,Christopher L.R. Barratt,Stéphane Viville | | The American Journal of Human Genetics. 2011; 88(3): 344 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
