Enzymatic treatment of spermatozoa with a trypsin solution, SpermSolute: improved motility and enhanced ATP...

We have developed a solution, fully described in this report, that can be used in a pretreatment procedure to promote liquefaction and to enhance motility during preparation of spermatozoa. It was applied to native ejaculates prior to swim-up and, in parallel investigations, motility and adenosine triphosphate concentration were compared in treated and untreated samples, which revealed that the solution significantly improved both parameters. The solution, named SpermSolute, is based on a proteinase (trypsin), which previously has been shown to stimulate the activity of a glycolytic key-enzyme. We speculate that our findings reflect intracellular enzyme activation and we suggest that our formula can be used in sperm preparation to prevent cell aggregates and to promote liquefaction, in addition to promotion of motility.