Clinical and Interpretive

This assay is used in determining male fertility status.

Semen is composed of spermatozoa suspended in seminal fluid (plasma). The function of the seminal fluid is to provide nutrition and volume for conveying the spermatozoa to the endocervical mucus.

Male infertility can be affected by a number of causes. Chief among these is a decrease in the number of viable sperm. Other causes include sperm with abnormal morphology and abnormalities of the seminal fluid.

Semen specimens can vary widely in the same man from specimen to specimen. Semen parameters falling outside of the normal ranges do not preclude fertility for that individual.