RETURNComparisons of Sperm Quality and Function among Sperm Populations Recovered via SpermPrep™ Filtration, Swim-up and Percoll Density Gradient Methods
Shozo Maenosono
Clinic of Urology, Matsue Kinen Hospital, Matsue 690, Japan
Twenty-seven ejaculates collected from 27 asthenospermic men were equally divided into 2 aliquots each. Aliquot 1 was processed via the received swim-up (SU) method, whereas aliquot 2 was filtered via a SpermPrep™ II (SP) filtration column. Spermatozoal populations recovered via the SP filtration method showed a significantly higher percentage of retrieved spermatozoa, quantitative and qualitative sperm motility, percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa, outcome of hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test, total acrosin activity of spermatozoa (TAAS) and percentage of spermatozoa with hyperactivated motility than sperm fractions recovered by the SU method (P < 0.05). When the SP filtration method was compared with the Percoll density gradient (PDG; 2 layers) method in a similar protocol involving 21 asthenospermic men, it was found that sperm fractions filtered via the SP column showed significantly higher sperm quantitative and qualitative motility, percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa, outcome of HOS test, TAAS, and percentage of spermatozoa with hyperactivated motility than spermatozoal populations isolated via the PDG method (P < 0.05). However, differences in the percentage of recovered spermatozoa via the SP filtration method and via the PDG method were not significantly different (P > 0.05). The results obtained in the current study may suggest that the SP filtration method is superior to the SU and PDG methods for isolating those spermatozoal subpopulations with higher qualitative and quantitative characteristics from fresh seminal samples.
Key words: infertility; Percoll gradient; SpermPrep; swim-up