Varicocele is a common cause of
male infertility and reports indicate that varicocelectomy has a beneficial effect on male fertility. The aims of this study were to evaluate and compare the total
acrosin activity along with
DNA integrity in semen samples obtained from 70
varicocele individuals with male factors
infertility presenting grades II and III
varicocele before and after the surgery and 30 fertile individuals without any clinical presentation of
varicocele. Total
acrosin activity,
protamine deficiency, DNA fragmentation, and semen parameters including sperm concentration, motility and sperm morphology were assessed by spectrophotometery, CMA3 staining,
terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay and WHO criteria, respectively. Total
acrosin activity (P = 0.03), percentage CMA3 positivity (P = 0.00) and TUNEL-positive spermatozoa (P = 0.04) were higher in the
varicocele individuals before the surgery compared with the fertile individuals; yet, all the aforementioned criteria decreased significantly after surgery (P < 0.05). The results of this study reveal that DNA fragmentation and
protamine deficiency, as negative parameters in fertility, improve post-surgery; however, total
acrosin activity as a positive parameter in fertility is higher in the
varicocele individuals compared with fertile and decreases to a value close to the fertile control post-surgery. High levels of total
acrosin activity in
varicocele individuals need more research in future.