Factors affecting sperm motility. IX. survival of spermatozoa in various biological media and under different gaseous compositions.

The role of various environmental conditions on sperm motility and their survival was investigated by incubating washed human spermatozoa in various biologic or artificial media and under different atmospheric compositions. When sperm were analyzed by the multiple exposure photography technique for objective motility determination, it was found that none of the investigated biologic media induced any immediate stimulatory effect on the tested spermatozoa. Exchange of seminal fluid between normal and oligoasthenospermic specimens did not reveal any beneficial or harmful effect on sperm motility. Sperm did not survive for more than 24 hours when kept in their original seminal fluid under any circumstances. The most favorable media tested for prolonged sperm survival were pure human umbilical cord serum or Ham's solution containing 0.5% human albumin. However, even in these media sperm did not survive much beyond 24 hours unless incubated in an atmosphere containing 5% CO2 or a triple mixture of 90% N2, 5% O2, and 5% CO2. Only under these circumstances could sperm stay alive, in some cases up to 5 days.