Multinucleation of spermatozoa and spermatids in infertile men chronically exposed to carbofuran

Objective: To report the findings encountered in semen samples coming from two infertile men chronically exposed to carbofuran. Methods: Semen samples were collected and analyzed as recommended by the World Health Organization. A morphological analysis was carried out by light microscopy. Results: Seminal analysis revealed in the first case a total concentration of 42 million spermatozoa/mL with 17% motility and 20% normal shape. The second patient presented a total concentration of 5 million spermatozoa/mL with 6% motility and 2% normal shape. The patients presented a similar percentage of binucleated spermatozoa (28 and 26%) and of multinucleated spermatids (10 and 6%). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first time that alterations in semen samples of men exposed to carbofuran are reported. More research in this area is needed to make conclusions on the subject. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.