THE HYPOOSMOTIC SWELLING TEST

In the present study, the effect of the concentration of the hypoosmot ic solution, incubation time and duration from sperm collection to inc ubation on the hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test were evaluated. Sperm w ere obtained from 20 fertile donors. The most stable sperm tail swelli ng was obtained at 150 mOsm. Incubation far 30 minutes was sufficient for the evaluation of overall swelling but not for the evaluation of b - and g-type sperm swelling. This suggests that incubation for one hou r is necessary to obtain stable results. Incubation far more than one hour did not affect the percentage or type of sperm swelling. The time from sperm collection to incubation did Mot affect the HOS test. The HOS test is practical and not affected by the duration of incubation o l time from sperm collection to incubation.