The staining pattern of human sperm with Diff Quik: relationship with sperm head morphology and a sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA)

The dark staining of human sperm heads by Diff Quik is significantly correlated with abnormal sperm head morphology (r=0.51, p<0.0001), but is not associated with changes in sperm chromatin detected by a sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA; r=0.18, p>0.09). Whilst valuable in the assessment of head morphology, it is concluded that Diff Quik staining is not a useful substitute for the SCSA to assess human sperm chromatin.