ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the effect of vardenafil pretreatment on the post-thaw sperm activity. Methods: Semen samples were randomly collected from 30 donors in Shanghai Human Sperm Bank. Then, each semen sample was aliquoted into six parts. One was immediately assayed for sperm activity without any treatment as the original control. The other five parts were incubated with vardenafil at 0, 0.4, 4.0, 40.0, and 400.0 μg/mL respectively for five minutes. The protective agent was added according to the semen: protective agent ration (2: 1), and the fumigation method was used for cryopreservation. After thawing, each specimen was examined for various parameters, including progressive motility, total motility and normal sperm morphology. Results: After thawing, the progressive sperm rates were (41.47±9.80)%, (42.57±9.60)%, (47.77±8.55)%, (37.27±8.47)%, and (26.37±6.99)% in the groups treated with 0, 0.4, 4.0, 40.0, and 400.0 μg/mL of vardenafil, respectively. Compared to the control group (0 μg/mL of vardenafil), 4.0 μg/mL of vardenafil could significantly improve the post-thaw sperm motility (P=0.034). Conclusion: Vardenafil pretreatment can improve the activity of the postthaw sperm; however, it may be toxic to sperm at the high concentration.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate sperm function indexes that can be used to effectively evaluate the sperm donors' fertility so as to select healthy post-thaw semen samples and improve the success rate of assisted reproductive technology.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>According to the pregnancy outcomes, we divided 40 donor semen samples into a high-fertility group (n = 20) and a low-fertility group (n = 20). We measured and compared the concentration, progressive motility, morphology, acrosome intactness, DNA integrity and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of the post-thaw sperm between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were statistically significant differences between the high- and low-fertility groups in the percentages of morphologically normal sperm ([18.50 +/- 6.10]% vs [14.42 +/- 6.44]%, P < 0.01), acrosome intactness ([86.17 +/- 4.49]% vs [80.04 +/- 7.52]%, P < 0.05) and DNA fragmentation index ([9.21 +/- 3.22]% vs [15.72 +/- 8.20]%, P < 0.05), but not in MMP ([56.75 +/- 18.80]% vs [52.23 +/- 18.86]%, P > 0.05). A significantly positive correlation was found between MMP and sperm motility (r = 0.760, P < 0.05), but not between other sperm functions and sperm concentration and motility.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Sperm concentration, motility, morphology, acrosome intactness rate and DNA integrity contribute effectively to the evaluation of the fertilization capacity of post-thaw donor semen samples.</p>