Phoshphatidylserine (PS) is a phospholipid expressed on sperm cells which has been shown to be necessary for sperm cells to fuse to eggs for fertilization. Dr. Parviz Kavoussi is collaborating with PS Fertility laboratory in Charlottesville, Virginia to further assess the importance of PS in male fertility. Varicoceles are abnormally dilated veins around the testicles which are detrimental for testicular cellular function and decrease conventional semen parameters like sperm counts and motility. There is a need for more functional testing that can help fertility specialists evaluate infertile men and direct their treatments. Dr. Kavoussi has been running a clinical trial at Austin Fertility & Reproductive Medicine/Westlake IVF assessing PS expression on sperm in men with varicoceles and the impact of varicocele repair on the expression of PS. This early study he published in collaboration with PS Fertility laboratory, demonstrated that men with varicoceles have sperm that express lower amounts of PS than fertile controls and that the expression of PS significantly improved after varicocele repair in the early data in these men. Dr. Kavoussi states, “This is a very exciting early study suggesting that PS may be an important marker of a man’s fertility and may even help drive treatment decision making. It is critical to continue to do research to help with the understanding of qualitative measures of a man’s fertility such as PS rather than just the conventional semen parameters we have always relied on which can be a crude predictor of a man’s fertility in some cases. We are continuing the current study to increase numbers and strengthen our findings.”
