Comparison of four methods for sperm preparation for IUI

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Sperm Preparation Techniques

Background:

• Sperm preparation is crucial for assisted reproductive technologies.
• Various methods exist, each with potential impacts on sperm quality and pregnancy outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of four semen preparation methods: albumin, Percoll, Puresperm, and swim-up.
• To evaluate their impact on sperm characteristics and pregnancy rates in intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Main Methods:

• Semen samples were prepared using albumin, Percoll, Puresperm, and swim-up techniques.
• Sperm analysis was conducted using a computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) system.
• Pregnancy rates were calculated per patient and per cycle.

Main Results:

• Overall pregnancy rate was 14% per patient and 11% per cycle.
• Albumin and Percoll methods showed the highest pregnancy rates (up to 12% per cycle).
• Swim-up yielded the highest percentage of motile sperm; Percoll improved velocity; Puresperm affected concentration and hyperactivity.

Conclusions:

• Straight-line velocity, adjusted for confounding factors, was the only sperm characteristic significantly correlated with pregnancy.
• Percoll, despite good results, is unavailable due to toxicity.
• Puresperm yielded unsatisfactory pregnancy rates.
• The swim-up method is the optimal choice for IUI.