OBJECTIVE: To study the relation between changes in sperm motion characteristics and sperm binding capacity to the zona pellucida (ZP) after different sperm preparation techniques. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Andrology laboratory at the Lis Maternity Hospital. PATIENT(S): Sixty-three infertile men. INTERVENTION(S): In vitro preparation of 57 sperm samples by pentoxifylline (PTX), 38 samples by SpermPrep I (SP1), and 27 samples by mini-Percoll (mPER). Sperm preparation was evaluated in comparison with the control washing technique. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Motility variables and binding capacity. RESULT(S): Binding capacity after PTX, SP1, and mPER preparation methods was significantly higher compared with the control medium preparation. Computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) of sperm motility revealed a significant increase in a number of variables after the different treatments. A statistically significant but low correlation was observed between sperm binding capacity after control swim-up preparation and VAP (r = 0.27) as well as with VSL (r = 0.30). No significant correlations were found between the changes in the CASA and the improved sperm binding to the ZP. CONCLUSION(S): The two biologic effects of binding capacity enhancement and motility features improvement are not related. Furthermore, because the binding assay is highly correlated with fertilization capacity, these alterations in motility, as evidenced by CASA, probably have a minor effect on fertilization in vitro.
OBJECTIVE: To study the relation between changes in sperm motion characteristics and sperm binding capacity to the zona pellucida (ZP) after different sperm preparation techniques. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Andrology laboratory at the Lis Maternity Hospital. PATIENT(S): Sixty-three infertilemen. INTERVENTION(S): In vitro preparation of 57 sperm samples by pentoxifylline (PTX), 38 samples by SpermPrep I (SP1), and 27 samples by mini-Percoll (mPER). Sperm preparation was evaluated in comparison with the control washing technique. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Motility variables and binding capacity. RESULT(S): Binding capacity after PTX, SP1, and mPER preparation methods was significantly higher compared with the control medium preparation. Computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) of sperm motility revealed a significant increase in a number of variables after the different treatments. A statistically significant but low correlation was observed between sperm binding capacity after control swim-up preparation and VAP (r = 0.27) as well as with VSL (r = 0.30). No significant correlations were found between the changes in the CASA and the improved sperm binding to the ZP. CONCLUSION(S): The two biologic effects of binding capacity enhancement and motility features improvement are not related. Furthermore, because the binding assay is highly correlated with fertilization capacity, these alterations in motility, as evidenced by CASA, probably have a minor effect on fertilization in vitro.
Authors: G Grassi; N Cappello; M F Gheorghe; L Salton; C Di Bisceglie; C Manieri; C Benedetto Journal: J Endocrinol Invest Date: 2010-03-10 Impact factor: 4.256