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Glucosidase (alpha G) activity was measured in sperm free seminal plasma from 1200 patients consulting for primary infertility, in whom clinical examination of epididymides revealed some abnormalities and histories of genital infections. They constituted the group with epididymal pathology (P) that was compared with a reference group (R) of 246 men without any epididymal pathology. The distribution of alpha G was significantly different between the two groups, even if we considered only the subjects in group P with normal sperm count (PN: 353 men: p less than 10(-6). 15.9% of subjects in group PN exhibited alpha G values as low as vasectomized men, versus 1.2% in group R. A linear relationship was established between alpha G and sperm content in both groups, but alpha G activities were systematically lower in group P (y = 0.19 x + 64) than in group R (y = 0.30 x + 86). There was no correlation between alpha G and the percent of sperm motility. On the contrary, we found statistically more clinical epididymal abnormalities in cases of decreased alpha G activity than in cases of normal alpha G activity (p less than .01).

Azoospermic semen was obtained from 39 vasectomized men and 93 patients consulting for infertility. The latter underwent bioclinical investigations including measurement of plasma FSH and testicular biopsies. Carnitine content and alpha-glucosidase activity in semen samples were measured. The activity of alpha-glucosidase was determined systematically by a semiquantitative microtechnique and was verified by a spectrophotometric assay. A positive correlation was observed between carnitine and alpha-glucosidase activity. Both parameters were severely diminished in semen from the vasectomized men and the patients suffering from a complete obstruction of the genital tract. Enzyme activity was the most discriminant parameter in terms of sensitivity and specificity. The measurement of alpha-glucosidase in semen is a simple and sensitive method for determining the origin of azoospermia when used in conjunction with assays for plasma FSH.

Azoospermia is frequently due to an obstruction of genital pathways. In this work, concerning 22 patients submitted to surgical investigation for sterility, we made a systematic histological investigation of the lesions, and we studied the motility of epididymal spermatozoa. We observed with an unexpected frequency abnormalities of junctions either between seminiferous tubules and efferents ducts - leading to disappearance of rete testis - or between efferent ducts and epididymis. In each case a fibrosis of the epididymis was discovered, the consequence was either an interruption or, more frequently a simple narrowing of the lumen of the epididymal duct. The presence of spermiophages which destroyed all spermatozoa, was also systematically observed. The origin of the lesions (congenital, inflammatory, ischemic... ) could not be determined by simple histological study. Motility of spermatozoa was generally observed in the initial portion of the epididymal duct, but motile spermatozoa were sometimes still observed in the efferent tubules. Motility could be initiated by caffeine while other compounds as albumin, seminal plasma and different organic substrates, had no effects.