Objectives: Sperm cell preparation is an important step in the advanced treatment of infertility. Among the different methods introduced, none are considered to be ideal. The common methods are based on utilizing centrifugal separation which has been proven to be harmful to the sperm cell. We developed a method, based on the motion against the flow of sperm cell, which can successfully separate active sperm cells.Materials and Methods: In this study, we investigated the efficacy of this approach with a randomized clinical trial. Fifty-one candidates for the intra uterine insemination (IUI) treatment participated in our study. Twenty-five cases were assigned to our test group, separating the sperm cells using the proposed method (upstream method), and the conventional Swim-up method was applied to 26 cases in our control group. The entire process of IUI treatment in both groups was exactly the same except for the methods of separating sperm cells.Results: Results showed that the pregnancy rate using the new method was 20%, while the common method of sperm cell preparation resulted in 15.3% pregnancy rate.Conclusion: The new sperm preparation method (Upstream method) can be used as a simple, quick and effective method of sperm cell separation in fertility treatment especially in IUI procedure.

Background: Isolation of motile sperm is essential for routine IVF programs.One of most important source of sperm for IVF is isolation of epididymal sperm (ESP).The problem regarding use of ESP is somatic cells which are recovered through sperm collection. The Swim up and the Swim down procedures are use to isolate motile sperm. The aim of the present study was to compare Swim up and Histoprep®continuous gradient (HP) for isolation of ram ESP.Materials and Methods: Ram testes epididymes were collected from local slaughterhouse and transported to the Lab. Basic medium for separation of sperms from epididymis was caffeine treated BO solution. Histoprep was provided from the company. After incubating of cauda epididymis in the basic medium for 15 minutes, primary sperm parameters including sperm motility and concentration were recorded. Two equal volumes of sperm solution were use in Swim up solution and on Histoprep gradient. We followed the routine Swim up procedure by incubation of 800 ml of BO-caff in CO2 incubator for 30-45 minutes. For Histoprep, we followed the company protocol for isolation of human lymphocytes.After sperm recovery in two procedures, the secondary sperm parameters were recorded. To find the effects of the procedure on sperm parameters, proportion of secondary to primary sperm parameters, for each method, was calculated.Results: The results showed that proportion of motile sperms were 1.094±0.04 and 1.19±0.06 in Histoprep and Swim up respectively (p>0.05). The proportion of secondary to primary sperm count for two procedure was similar (0.27±0.05 and 0.25±0.07 for Histoprep and Swim up, respectively).Conclusion: The results showed that Histoprep and Swim up have similar effects on motile sperm isolation for ram ESP.

Objective: In 2014, enrolled 20 patients who applied to the Unit of Assisted Reproduction Techniques, Konya Necmettin Erbakan University. Based on the presence of hyaluronic acid (HA) in the oocyte-cumulus cell complex, sperm attached to HA in vivo were modeled in vitro. Available healthy sperm obtained in the Swim-up procedure using HA were investigated.Materials and Methods: This observational cohort study, a routine analysis was conducted on the ejaculation samples obtained from 20 patients. We divided each sample into two groups and the Swim-up method was applied. Human serum albumin (HSA, 0.5%) was added to samples from the first group. HA (10%) was added to samples from the second group. We determined the floating linear and non-linear sperm concentrations of both groups annexin V was used to determine the rate of apoptosis of these sperm.Results: Following Swim-up, linear and non-linear sperm concentrations were higher in the group that contained HA compared to the group with HSA. However, there was a significantly higher apoptosis rate in the HSA group compared to the HA group.Conclusion: The addition of HA to the medium in the Swim-up procedure positively affected sperm parameters. Thus, healthier sperm cells were obtained without DNA damage and with high motility.

Purpose: To compare the effects of microfluidic sperm sorting, density gradient and Swim-up methods on the oxidative reduction potential (ORP) of split semen samples from a single patient population. Materials and Methods: A prospective controlled study was conducted to compare the effects of three different semen processing methods using split semen samples from the same population of infertile men. The primary outcome was the ORP. Secondary outcomes were the sperm concentration, progressive motility rate and total sperm motility. Results: A total of 57 split semen samples were included in this study. The ORP was significantly lower in the microfluidic group compared to the density gradient and Swim-up groups (P < 0. 05). The ORP/sperm concentration ratio was significantly lower in the microfluidic and density gradient groups compared to the Swim-up group (P < 0. 05). Total sperm concentration was significantly higher in the density gradient group than the microfluidic and Swim-up groups (P < 0. 05). Motility was significantly higher in the microfluidic and Swim-up groups than the density gradient group (P < 0. 05). The progressive motile sperm rate was significantly higher in the microfluidic and Swim-up groups than the density gradient group (P < 0. 05). Conclusion: Microfluidic sperm sorting was better for selecting highly motile sperm and yielded a lower ORP than conventional sperm preparation methods.