Objective: To elucidate the effect of sperm immobilization media that are and are not based on polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on the DNA integrity of fresh and frozen-thawed spermatozoa during standard intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) conditions.
Design: Experimental prospective study.
Setting: Embryology research laboratory.
Patient(s): Forty-six ejaculates from normozoospermic and oligozoospermic men.
Intervention(s): Assessment of sperm DNA fragmentation by single-cell gel electrophoresis assay.
Main outcome measure(s): DNA integrity of fresh and frozen-thawed spermatozoa from normozoospermic and oligozoospermic ejaculates exposed to PVP-based and non-PVP-based media.
Result(s): Exposure of fresh and frozen thawed spermatozoa from normozoospermic and oligozoospermic ejaculates to PVP-based medium in an ICSI dish for 30 minutes statistically significantly increased the DNA fragmentation. In contrast, the extent of DNA fragmentation in non-PVP-based medium did not statistically significantly differ from control.
Conclusion(s): A PVP-based medium can induce a statistically significant amount of sperm DNA fragmentation in an ICSI dish, and frozen-thawed sperm from oligozoospermic ejaculates are more susceptible to in situ DNA fragmentation.
Copyright © 2012 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.