Fresh versus frozen seminal plasma for enhancing sperm motility in asthenozoospermic males

Previous data demonstrated improvement in severe asthenozoospermia in men with retrograde ejaculates by adding donor seminal plasma (DSP); interestingly, no such improvement was demonstrated following suspension in Ham's F-10 medium. A study was performed to examine whether DSP would also improve asthenozoospermic ejaculates from men with antegrade semen. In addition, the study further explored whether the ameliorative effect of DSP could be maintained after freeze-thawing. The mean increase in motility following fresh DSP in 37 specimens was 102% and was -1.3% for DSP frozen at -20 degrees C and 16.7% for DSP frozen at -196 degrees C. The only statistical difference (using Student's t test) was seen in the comparison of fresh DSP to DSP frozen at -20 degrees C (p = .001). Nine of twenty-four men exhibited doubled baseline motility rates following addition of fresh DSP, compared to only 1 of 20 and 1 of 5, respectively, following addition of semen treated with DSP frozen at -20 degrees C and -196 degrees C, respectively. The data suggest that poor motility may improve when DSP is added to the specimen. However, proper quarantine may not be possible because efficacy is lost after freezing.