SPERM QUALITY EVALUATION FOLLOWING PREPARATION OF HUMAN SEMEN SPECIMENS FOR ART: A CONTROLLED TRIAL.

OBJECTIVE: Sperm preparation by density gradient separation is the most common method used. Although highly motile spermatozoa are obtained, there are concerns that sperm prepared by density gradient separation may contain DNA damage. The objective of this study was to evaluate semen quality and DNA damage following sperm preparation by 3 different commercially available density gradient media. DESIGN: Sperm preparation using 3 commercially available density gradients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 20 healthy, male volunteers were enrolled in the study. Following semen analysis, samples were divided into 3 different groups and processed for density gradient using 3 common separation gradients: SpermGrad-125 (Vitrolife), PureCeption (Sage) and Isolate (Irvine Scientific). Samples were examined again for count and motility, total motile sperm (TMS), percent recovery and extent of DNA damage. RESULTS: We found significant difference between prewash motility compared to Isolate and SpermGrad-125 after sperm preparation (p<0.01). Significant differences were seen in percent motility between the 3 gradients (p<0.01) as shown in table. All values are reported as mean ±SD; a,b p values <0.05 was considered significant using a paired t test. Both SpermGrad-125 and Isolate performed similarly. Percent recovery of motile sperm was comparable among the 3 gradients. The percentage of spermatozoa with DNA damage was comparable among the 3 groups. It showed no significant change from the pre-wash values. CONCLUSION: Higher sperm motility was seen with SpermGrad-125 and Isolate. DNA Damage was comparable after density gradient using three different gradients. (Table Presented).