OBJECTIVE To compare the percentage of sperm tail membrane swelling under hypo-osmotic conditions between sperm treated with pentoxifylline and 2-deoxyadenosine. DESIGN Experimental in vitro study. MATERIAL AND METHOD Thirty normal semen samples from male partners of infertile couples were collected. After sperm preparation by two-layer Percoll gradient method, each sperm sample was divided...

Background Sperm DNA fragmentation is known as an important cause of male infertility. The influence of sperm DNA damage on reproductive potential has been subject of many studies indicating various results and remaining the subject controversial. In this study, we investigated differences of the semen parameters and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome according to sperm DNA fragmen...

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Aim of the study: to evaluate the functional parameters of bovine spermatozoa before and after separation by single layer centrifugation using Bovipure gradient. Material and Methods: Frozen semen from 8 bulls was used in this study. Thawed pellets were subjected to the separation process through gradient media according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Qualitative assessment of semen was pe...

I n the recent literature, several interesting articles have been published using the zona pellucdia (ZP)-bound sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to enhance embryo quality, implantation and clinical pregnancy rates. The three studies were performed independently in different ART clinics. In the test group, patients’ sibling immature (either germinal vesicle (GV) or metaphase I) ...

The ubiquitin-proteasome system is essential for intracellular protein degradation, but there are few studies of this system in the extracellular milieu. Recently, we reported that a 70-kDa sperm receptor, HrVC70, on the vitelline coat is ubiquitinated and then degraded by the sperm proteasome during fertilization of the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi. Here, we investigated the mechanism of extr...

Motile porcine sperms adhere to hydrophilic materials such as glass and plastics. The adsorption of sperms to a hydrophobic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membrane is less compared with that to glass. We investigated the linear velocity (LV) and amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALHD) of motile porcine sperm on glass and PDMS preparations using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). Sign...

There are more than 80 million infertile couples around the world (1). It is estimated that about 40 million of infertile couples are currently seeking infertility treatments (2). Treatment of infertility ranges from simple advice on natural conception to complex and expensive interventions including Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) (3). Advanced infertility treatment methods are costly...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine if only sperm with double stranded DNA could bind to the human zona pellucida (ZP). METHODS Sperm samples from 124 infertile men with a range of semen abnormalities were studied. Oocytes that had failed to fertilize in IVF or ICSI were used for the sperm-ZP binding test. A group of four oocytes were incubated for 2 h with 2 x 10(6)/ml motile s...

The mechanisms responsible for mediating the influence of sperm preparation protocols on human sperm function have been investigated. Techniques that involved the separation of motile spermatozoa prior to centrifugation were found to yield sperm suspensions of highest quality. If the spermatozoa were centrifuged prior to isolation of the motile cells, sperm function was impaired. The detrimenta...