COMPARISON OF RESAZURIN TEST-RESULTS WITH VARIOUS SPERM PARAMETERS

The resazurin reduction test was performed on semen samples from 83 un treated infertile and 9 pregnancy-confirmed fertile males, and the res ults were compared with other sperm parameters. The highest correlatio ns with resazurin grade were found for motile sperm concentration (r=0 .65, P<0.001), percent motility (r=0.58, P<0.01), and percentage of sw ollen sperm (r=0.57, P<0.01). There were also significant but weak cor relations between resazurin grade and both sperm concentration and lin earity. There was a significant difference in the rate of positive tes ts between samples from normozoospermic and fertile males, and samples from patients exhibiting abnormal semen parameters (P<0.001). These f indings indicate that the resazurin test may be able to predict those males who may be fertile despite an abnormal semen analysis, and there fore, the test may be useful in the evaluation of the infertile patien t as a part of a comprehensive male fertility assessment.