Improvement in quality of cryopreserved human spermatozoa by swim-up before freezing.

Selecting a population of spermatozoa by the swim-up technique yields, after freezing and thawing, a population of cells that contains proportionally more spermatozoa which are morphologically normal, fewer spermatozoa with damaged tail membranes, and a greater percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa with greater velocities and amplitudes of head displacement than those obtained after freezing and thawing the same semen samples in the normal way. This pattern was found for the semen from 10 patients and five volunteers. However, the cells selected by swim-up were as susceptible to the stresses caused by freezing and thawing as unselected spermatozoa in the original semen sample, and the improvement came from the better quality of the initial sample.