title: Efficacy of a sperm-selection chamber in terms of morphology, aneuploidy and DNA packaging.
abstract: Since most current techniques analysing spermatozoa will inevitably exclude these gametes from further use, attempts have been made to enrich semen samples with physiological spermatozoa with good prognosis using special sperm-processing methods. A particular sperm-selection chamber, called the Zech-selector, was found to be effective in completely eliminating spermatozoa with DNA strand breaks. The aim of this study was to further analyse the subgroup of spermatozoa accumulated using the Zech-selector. In detail, the potential of the chamber to select for proper sperm morphology, DNA status and chromatin condensation was tested. Two samples, native and processed semen, of 53 patients were analysed for sperm morphology (×1000, ×6300), DNA packaging (fragmentation, chromatin condensation) and chromosomal status (X, Y, 18). Migration time (the time needed for proper sperm accumulation) was significantly correlated to fast progressive motility (P=0.002). The present sperm-processing method was highly successful with respect to all parameters analysed (P<0.001). In particular, spermatozoa showing numeric (17.4% of patients without aneuploidy) or structural chromosomal abnormalities (90% of patients without strand-breaks) were separated most effectively. To summarize, further evidence is provided that separating spermatozoa without exposure to centrifugation stress results in a population of highly physiological spermatozoa.
authors.affiliation: Landes- Frauen- und Kinderklinik, Kinderwunsch Zentrum Linz, Krankenhausstr. 26-30, A-4020 Linz, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seiringer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shebl
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dreier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tews
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ziehr
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schappacher-Tilp
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petek
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ebner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000782:Aneuploidy; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D042003:DNA Packaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*