OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if hyaluronic acid (HA)-bound spermatozoa surpassed conventional microscopy-selected spermatozoa in the status of sperm DNA integrity by acridine orange (AO) fluorescence staining.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Spermatozoa obtained from couples with indication for the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure due to male infertility (n = 34) and control males with normal sperm parameters (n = 12) were analyzed using AO fluorescence staining after density-gradient centrifugation (DGC), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-microscopic selection, and HA-binding selection to determine sperm DNA integrity.
RESULTS: Percentages of DNA intact spermatozoa with green fluorescence were significantly higher in both PVP-microscopic selected spermatozoa (82.1 ± 24.0%) and HA-bound spermatozoa (83.9 ± 21.1%) than in spermatozoa prepared by DGC (66.8 ± 24.0%). However, there was no significant difference between the PVP-sperm and HA-sperm groups. When the percentage of green fluorescent spermatozoa prepared by DGC fell initially below 68%, both PVP-microscopic and HA-binding selection failed to select over 90% spermatozoa with intact DNA for ICSI in the male infertility group. Compared to control males with normal sperm parameters (99.3 ± 1.8%), the proportion of green fluorescence sperm after HA-binding selection from couples with male infertility (83.9 ± 21.1%) did not reach the range of > 99% reported by Yagci et al.
CONCLUSION: The percentages of DNA intact spermatozoa between the PVP-sperm and HA-sperm groups were not significantly different. In an ICSI procedure, a well-trained embryologist will have the same ability to choose sperm with intact DNA by conventional microscopic selection as with HA-bound spermatozoa selection.
Written by:
Huang MT, Kuo-Kuang Lee R, Lu CH, Chen YJ, Li SH, Hwu YM. Are you the author?
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Mackay Medicine, Nursing and Management College, Taipei, Taiwan; Mackay Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan.
Reference: Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol. 2015 Feb;54(1):48-53.
doi: 10.1016/j.tjog.2014.11.006
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25675919