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Spermatozoa isolation with Felix™ outperforms conventional density gradient centrifugation preparation in selecting
Pauline Villeneuve1, Fabrice Saez1, Elisa Hug1
1GReD Institute, Université Clermont Auvergne-Inserm U1103-CNRS UMR6293, Faculté de Médecine, CRBC, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Background:
The optimization of spermatozoa preparation techniques in order to obtain cell fractions enriched with structurally and functionally "superior" spermatozoa is a key objective of the assisted reproduction industry.
Objectives:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a recent development of an electrophoretic spermatozoa separation device (Felix™, Memphasys Ltd, Sydney, Australia) and to compare its performance with conventional spermatozoa preparation by density gradient centrifugation (DGC). Particular attention was paid to the evaluation of sperm DNA/nuclear integrity.
Materials & Methods:
A cohort of 29 human semen samples was studied. Semen samples were analyzed fresh and after DGC or Felix™ preparation. Semen parameters monitored included sample volume, sperm count, total motility, progressive motility, sperm DNA fragmentation using the Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay and sperm DNA oxidation.
Results:
Spermatozoa preparation with Felix™ resulted in significantly improved spermatozoa fractions with higher progressive motility, lower sperm DNA fragmentation, and lower sperm DNA oxidation compared with raw semen and DGC-prepared spermatozoa.
Discussion & Conclusion:
The data collected in this study support the preparation of spermatozoa by the Felix™ system as it allows selection of spermatozoa with the highest progressive motility as well as the lowest nuclear/DNA damage. These improved sperm parameters, along with the fact that the Felix™ separation process is very fast and highly standardized, should be of great interest to the assisted reproduction technologies industry.
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