Presence of ribonucleic acid in human spermatozoa: Differences in content between normal and abnormal spermatozoa,

Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether there are any differences in total ribonucleic acid content between normal and abnormal human spermatozoa. Study Design: Spermatozoa were obtained from men undergoing routine semen analysis at a university-based reproductive genetics laboratory. Specimens were classified as normal or abnormal according to World Health Organization criteria. Total ribonucleic acid was removed by acid-phenol extraction, and ribonucleic acid expression levels were determined by spectrophotometric analysis. Results: Abnormal spermatozoa were found to have significantly more ribonucleic acid (0.14 ± 0.02 mg/106 spermatozoa) than normal spermatozoa (0.05 ± 0.01 mg/106 spermatozoa; P< .001). Conclusion: Ribonucleic acid content is significantly altered in abnormal spermatozoa, and this alteration may be the result of some defect in the posttranscriptional pathway. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2000;182:1011-2.)