Cover design The cover of Molecular Human Reproduction shows the results of the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) performed on spermatozoa in semen samples before (upper row) and after (lower row) the swim-up procedure. The assay uses acridine orange staining and flow cytometry to identify spermatozoa whose chromatin is susceptible to acid-induced denatuation. The fluorescence measurements are displayed as red (FL3-H) vs. green (FLH-H) bivariate cytograms. Spermatozoa with abnormal chromatin are those with a high ratio of red to red+green fluorescence intensity (as indicated by the alpha T histogram). A general improvement in chromatin integrity is observed in post-swim-up spermatozoa. For further details, see 29-37.
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