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Uhlmannsiek L, Shen H, Eylers H, Martinsson G, Sieme H, Wolkers WF, Oldenhof H. Preserving frozen stallion sperm on dry ice using polymers that modulate ice crystalization kinetics. Cryobiology 2024; 114:104852. [PMID: 38295927 DOI: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2024.104852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
Cryopreserved semen is routinely shipped in liquid nitrogen. Dry ice could serve as an alternative coolant, however, frozen storage above liquid nitrogen temperatures (LN2, -196 °C) may negatively affect shelf-life and cryosurvival. In this study, we determined critical temperatures for storage of cryopreserved stallion sperm. We evaluated: (i) effects of cooling samples to different subzero temperatures (-10 °C to -80 °C) prior to storing in LN2, (ii) stability at different storage temperatures (i.e., in LN2, dry ice, -80 °C and -20 °C freezers, 5 °C refrigerator), and (iii) sperm cryosurvival during storage on dry ice (i.e., when kept below -70 °C and during warming). Furthermore, (iv) we analyzed if addition of synthetic polymers (PVP-40, Ficoll-70) modulates ice crystallization kinetics and improves stability of cryopreserved specimens. Sperm motility and membrane intactness were taken as measures of cryosurvival, and an artificial insemination trial was performed to confirm fertilizing capacity. We found that adding PVP-40 or Ficoll-70 to formulations containing glycerol reduced ice crystal sizes and growth during annealing. Post-thaw sperm viability data indicated that samples need to be cooled below -40 °C before they can be safely plunged and stored in LN2. No negative effects of relocating specimens from dry ice to LN2 and vice versa became apparent. However, sample warming above -50 °C during transport in dry ice should be avoided to ensure preservation of viability and fertility. Moreover, addition of PVP-40 or Ficoll-70 was found to increase sperm cryosurvival, especially under non-ideal storage conditions where ice recrystallization may occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Uhlmannsiek
- Unit for Reproductive Medicine - Clinic for Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany; National Stud of Lower Saxony, Celle, Germany
| | - Hang Shen
- Biostabilization Laboratory - Lower Saxony Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Implant Research and Development, Hannover, Germany
| | - Heinke Eylers
- Unit for Reproductive Medicine - Clinic for Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | | | - Harald Sieme
- Unit for Reproductive Medicine - Clinic for Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Willem F Wolkers
- Unit for Reproductive Medicine - Clinic for Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany; Biostabilization Laboratory - Lower Saxony Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Implant Research and Development, Hannover, Germany
| | - Harriëtte Oldenhof
- Unit for Reproductive Medicine - Clinic for Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany; Biostabilization Laboratory - Lower Saxony Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Implant Research and Development, Hannover, Germany.
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Michailov Y, Nemerovsky L, Ghetler Y, Finkelstein M, Schonberger O, Wiser A, Raziel A, Saar-Ryss B, Ben-Ami I, Kaplanski O, Miller N, Haikin Herzberger E, Mashiach Friedler Y, Levitas-Djerbi T, Amsalem E, Umanski N, Tamadaev V, Ovadia YS, Peretz A, Sacks G, Dekel N, Zaken O, Levi M. Stain-Free Sperm Analysis and Selection for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Complying with WHO Strict Normal Criteria. Biomedicines 2023; 11:2614. [PMID: 37892988 PMCID: PMC10604130 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11102614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
This multi-center study evaluated a novel microscope system capable of quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) for label-free sperm-cell selection for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Seventy-three patients were enrolled in four in vitro fertilization (IVF) units, where senior embryologists were asked to select 11 apparently normal and 11 overtly abnormal sperm cells, in accordance with current clinical practice, using a micromanipulator and 60× bright field microscopy. Following sperm selection and imaging via QPM, the individual sperm cell was chemically stained per World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 protocols and imaged via bright field microscopy for subsequent manual measurements by embryologists who were blinded to the QPM measurements. A comparison of the two modalities resulted in mean differences of 0.18 µm (CI -0.442-0.808 µm, 95%, STD-0.32 µm) for head length, -0.26 µm (CI -0.86-0.33 µm, 95%, STD-0.29 µm) for head width, 0.17 (CI -0.12-0.478, 95%, STD-0.15) for length-width ratio and 5.7 for acrosome-head area ratio (CI -12.81-24.33, 95%, STD-9.6). The repeatability of the measurements was significantly higher in the QPM modality. Surprisingly, only 19% of the subjectively pre-selected normal cells were found to be normal according to the WHO2021 criteria. The measurements of cells imaged stain-free through QPM were found to be in good agreement with the measurements performed on the reference method of stained cells imaged through bright field microscopy. QPM is non-toxic and non-invasive and can improve the clinical effectiveness of ICSI by choosing sperm cells that meet the strict criteria of the WHO2021.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulia Michailov
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Luba Nemerovsky
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
| | - Yehudith Ghetler
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
| | - Maya Finkelstein
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Wolfson Medical Center, Holon 5822012, Israel
| | - Oshrat Schonberger
- IVF Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Amir Wiser
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
| | - Arie Raziel
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Wolfson Medical Center, Holon 5822012, Israel
| | - Bozhena Saar-Ryss
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Ido Ben-Ami
- IVF Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Olga Kaplanski
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
| | - Netanella Miller
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
| | - Einat Haikin Herzberger
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
| | - Yardena Mashiach Friedler
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
| | - Tali Levitas-Djerbi
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Wolfson Medical Center, Holon 5822012, Israel
| | - Eden Amsalem
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Natalia Umanski
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Valeria Tamadaev
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Yaniv S Ovadia
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Barzilai University Medical Center, Ashkelon 7830604, Israel
| | - Aharon Peretz
- IVF Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Gilat Sacks
- IVF Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Nava Dekel
- IVF Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Odelya Zaken
- IVF Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel
| | - Mattan Levi
- Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba 4428163, Israel
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Deemeh MR, Mesbah-Namin SA, Movahedin M. Selecting motile, non-apoptotic and induced spermatozoa for capacitation without centrifuging by MACS-Up method. Andrologia 2022; 54:e14405. [PMID: 35218061 DOI: 10.1111/and.14405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Revised: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In newly improved MACS-Up method, magnetic field has been applied to separate non-apoptotic spermatozoa directly from the neat semen. The spermatozoa during passing through a viscous layer, located on the neat semen, contacted with progesterone and induced for the capacitation. Then, a clean population of non-apoptotic, and capacitated spermatozoa were selected in the pure culture media. Selected spermatozoa may be useful for use in ART. The 80 semen samples from normozoospermic individuals were divided separately into 4 attempts. Semen analysis, SCSA (sperm chromatin structure assay), FLICA (fluorescein-labelled inhibitors of caspase) methods, immunoassay of phosphorylation of tyrosine residues of sperm proteins, nuclear DNA integrity, caspase 3 activity and sperm capacitation rate were all performed for evaluation of sperm parameters respectively. To examine all aspects, the MACS-Up method compared with DGC (density gradient centrifuging) and MACS-DGC methods separately. This method can isolate non-apoptotic spermatozoa directly from the neat semen, which has similar performance compared to the MACS-DGC method. Movement and passing spermatozoa through the viscous layer, and contact with progesterone, significantly induced spermatozoa for capacitation compared with the control group. Also, the MACS-Up in comparison with routine DGC method could select spermatozoa with significantly higher total and progressive motility, DNA integrity, induced sperm population for capacitation and normal morphology. MACS-Up can be developed as an effective, short-time, and ease of performing method and used practically to select functional spermatozoa as novel sperm selection procedure. However, for clinical use of MACS-Up, all clinical aspects of this method should be considered and evaluated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Reza Deemeh
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Seyed Alireza Mesbah-Namin
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mansoureh Movahedin
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
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