Abstract :
Background: Sperm preparation is a fundamental step in ART and attempt for
developing new methods to be continued.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of upstream method for separation of human
spermatozoa and its effects on sperm parameters including: motility, morphology, and
concentration.
Materials and Methods: Semen samples from 17 men who referred to infertility clinic
for evaluating their infertility problems were collected. Semen was placed in floor of the
upper container of device, and then media was gently placed on the upper semen
portion. During the procedure, semen flowed from upper container and dropped in
lower container. When semen flowed, the non-motile sperms, cells, debris and seminal
plasma enter the lower container, while only motile sperms separated by swimming
upstream and go to the upper part of the medium. Finally, all of the semen flowed from
the upper container to the lower one, and merely the medium remained, which
contained motile normal sperms.
Results: With application of upstream method, the recovered spermatozoa showed
significant improvement with motility and normal morphology. The data showed that
mean sperm motility increased from 39% to 90% (p < 0.0001) and normal morphology
increased from 25% to 32 % (p < 0.0001) after processing using new method. In
addition, the concentration of round cells decreased to zero in all samples.
Conclusion: The results indicate that upstream method can enrich the sperm population
of normal motile sperms. Also, the new method is simple and does not require
centrifugation step or any chemicals.
