Sperm Count and Sperm Fertility - Medicine Paper Example

Sperm cells refer to the reproductive cells which are produced by the testicles by the Leydig cells and semen is the fluid that contains the sperm. The maturity of the sperm starts from puberty onwards, and the process happens in the testicle. Any abnormality in the process of maturation may lead to infertility in males. Sperm infertility can be improved. Diet and sperm and food intake also determine sperm count and sperm fertility. When there is high sugar intake in a diet of an individual, it may lead to damage of the sperm cell and a diet that is rich in soy products may reduce the sperm count.

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Sperm quality refers to the measure of the ability of semen to accomplish fertilization which can also be referred to as a measure of fertility in a man. The most important part of the semen is the sperm, and the quality of semen involves both the sperm quantity and sperm quality. Majorly infertility is caused by decreased semen quality, and it accounts for a greater percentage of male infertility. According to the research conducted on about 80 men, those who had their diet is rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and folate have less DNA damage as compared to those whose diet was deficient in the vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and folate.

Sperm count and sperm fertility also depend on the diet of the pregnant mother during pregnancy. Women who take a lot of beef while the pregnant put their sons at risk and the sons stand at a risk of low sperm counts when they are born. Animals that feed on contaminated feed or grass and sometimes are also given hormones or some other contaminants in their feed and these chemicals may build up to be fatal to the quantity of sperm concentration which decreases.

INTRODUCTION

The success rate of Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) remains low, ranges about 10-20%. One of the etiologies is sperm preparation, which includes sperm motility. The most common methods for sperm preparation are Swim-up (SU) and the Density-gradient Centrifugation (DGC). There are controversies related to the deterioration of the SU and the DGC methods about the non-optimal progressive motile sperm which may lead to the failure of IUI. Studies have researched which of the two sperm preparation methods could select for better sperm quality. Furthermore, studies have shown that there are several substances which could increase the sperm quality in sperm preparation, such as antioxidant and vitamins. This review aimed to summarize the substances that could increase the sperm quality in sperm preparation as an update to increase the success rate of IUI.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was the method we implemented. We studied articles that discussed the role of substances in sperm preparation quality. We used articles obtained from PubMed as our main source of information. The search for information in PubMed was in two stages, in the first stage we used the keyword substances increased sperm quality to search and we obtained forty journal articles that matched our keyword.

In the second stage, we used the antioxidant vitamins as the search keywords, and we obtained eleven journal articles. In total, we collected five journal articles. We studied and analyzed the articles and arranged the information obtained in the form of tables and reports.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1. List of substances and its role in increasing sperm quality

Study by Substances Role Reference

J. E Griveau and D. Le Lannou Dithiothreitol (DTT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) Improved the rates of hyper activation and the acrosomal reaction of spermatozoa Gosalvez J, Le Lannou ,Tvrda E, Agarwal A. Free radical and superoxide reactivity detection in semen quality assessment: past, present, and future. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. 2017 Mar 25:1-1.

Guruprasad Kalthur et al Biotin and pentoxifylline Enhance motility of post-thaw spermatozoa and its longevity in vitro. Kalthur SG, Kalthur G. Anatomy and Development of the Male Reproductive System. InMale Infertility 2017 (pp. 1-15). Springer India.

Alireza Sobhani et al Sargassum extract Increased percentage of sperm motility and reduced

negative effects of freezing on sperm parameters significantly

Alireza Sobhani ,Najafabadi AS, Naghavi MR, Farahmand H, Abbasi A, Yazdanfar N. Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from Oleo-gum-resin and Different Organs of Ferula gummosa. Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants. 2017 Jan 2;20(1):282-8.

Mariangela Palmieri et al Myo-Inositol (Myo-Ins) Increased total and progressive sperm motility in fresh

samples before and after capacitation significantly Mariangela Palmieri , Zhao F, Yang Q, Shi S, Luo X, Sun Y. Semen preparation methods and sperm telomere length: density gradient centrifugation versus the swim up procedure. Scientific Reports. 2016;6

O.Merino et al Butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), synthetic analogue of vitamin E Increase sperm motility, protect the spermatozoa from DNA fragmentation O.Merino ,Morrell J. Colloids: Applications in Sperm Preparation for Assisted Reproduction. InAdvances in Colloid Science 2016. InTech.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. This study showed that addition of DTT during centrifugation could prevent some harmful effects such as membrane plasma disruption caused by lipid peroxidation process that generated from reactive oxygen species (ROS). Supplementation of the medium with DTT during the centrifugation prevented the deleterious effects on sperm movement parameters, motility and acrosome reaction induced by the centrifugation step. DTT as an antioxidant can induce chromatin destabilization and sperm nuclear stability. The damage caused by centrifugation can be prevented by addition of antioxidants during centrifugation. DTT and SOD supplementation in the preparation medium improved the level of hyper activated spermatozoa and velocity of the spermatozoa significantly. It also maintained levels of induced acrosome reaction.

2. This study showed that after 1-hour incubation with biotin and pentoxifylline improved the total motility of spermatozoa after the freeze-thaw process. The pentoxifylline has an inhibitory effect on phosphodiesterase, which in turn helps in maintaining a high intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) level in the spermatozoa, thus enhanced sperm motility significantly. The supplementation of biotin to sperm preparation medium not only resulted in significant enhancement in the sperm motility but also maintained the motility until 4 hours of incubation, indicates a potential application as sperm motility enhancer.

3. Sargassum on the reduction of oxygen-free radicals and the intensity of oxidative stress and also the elevation in the percentage of human sperms motility. Sargassum extract inhibits the free radicals and extract of Sargassum on semen parameters revealed significant differences in fast forward motility, total motility, and progressive motility of the extract compared with the cryopreservation control group.

4. From the study showed that total and progressivity of sperm motility is increased significantly after the addition of Myo-Ins before and after capacitation. The reduced motility caused by the freezing-thawing process is diminishing the sperm quality and fertilization rate. By the treatment of Myo-Ins, the thawed samples were more efficacious and showed a significant difference in improvement of sperm progressivity motility. It also is shown that Myo-Ins had not toxicity effect and proved to be well tolerated if added to the medium.

5. This study observed that higher levels of motility result after the addition of 1 mM BHT. BHT is also an extremely effective antioxidant and increases membrane fluidity as it is incorporated into the sperm membrane. In this way, it can prevent or reduce the permeability changes of sperm plasma membrane when the cells are cold shocked. On the other hand, BHT might prevent the autoxidation reaction by converting peroxy radicals to hydroperoxides.

Conclusion

Infertility is caused by decreased semen quality, and it accounts for a greater percentage of male infertility. Those males who had their diet being rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and folate have less DNA damage as compared to those whose diet was deficient in the vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and folate.

Therefore, it is necessary for a man to ensure that they are eating enough fruits because fruits act as antioxidants and ensure that the sperm is healthy. Sperm count and sperm fertility also depend on the diet of the pregnant mother during pregnancy. It is also necessary to note that Reducing the body weight is also a good strategy to ensure that there is enough sperm count. Obese men have lower sperm count than men who are healthy also sitting for long reduce sperm count. It is also crucial to eat more vegetables and fruits. The fruits have antioxidants which assist in to protect sperm from any damage. Men who eat processed meat, high-fat dairy have low sperm count.

References

Henkel RR, Schill WB. Sperm preparation for ART. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. 2003 Nov 14;1(1):108.

Takeshima T, Yumura Y, Kuroda S, Kawahara T, Uemura H, Iwasaki A. Effect of density gradient centrifugation on reactive oxygen species in human semen. Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine. 2017 May 4;63(3):192-8.

Santiago-Moreno J, Esteso MC, Castano C, Toledano-Diaz A, Delgadillo JA, Lopez-Sebastian A. Seminal plasma removal by density-gradient centrifugation is superior for goat sperm preservation compared with classical sperm washing. Animal Reproduction Science. 2017 Apr 9.

Paoli D, Lombardo F, Lenzi A, Gandini L. Sperm cryopreservation: effects on chromatin structure. InGenetic damage in human spermatozoa 2014 (pp. 137-150). Springer New York.

Inoue O, Kuji N, Ito H, Yamada M, Hamatani T, Oyadomari A, Kato S, Hanabusa H, Isaka K, Tanaka M. Clinical efficacy of a combination of Percoll continuous density gradient and swim-up techniques for semen processing in HIV-1 serodiscordant couples. Asian journal of andrology. 2017 Mar;19(2):208.

Zhao F, Yang Q, Shi S, Luo X, Sun Y. Semen preparation methods and sperm telomere length: density gradient centrifugation versus the swim up procedure. Scientific Reports. 2016;6.

Facio CL, Previato LF, Machado-Paula LA, Matheus PC, Araujo Filho E. Comparison of two sperm processing techniques for low complex-ity assisted fertilization: sperm washing followed by swim-up and discontinuous density gradient centrifugation. JBRA assisted reproduction. 2016 Dec 1;20(4):206.

Takeshima T, Yumura Y, Kuroda S, Kawahara T, Uemura H, Iwasaki A. Effect of density gradient centrifugation on reactive oxygen species in human semen. Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine. 2017 May 4;63(3):192-8.

Santiago-Moreno J, Esteso MC, Castano C, Toledano-Diaz A, Delgadillo JA, Lopez-Sebastian A. Seminal plasma removal by density-gradient centrifugation is superior for goat sperm preservation compared with classical sperm washing. Animal Reproduction Science. 2017 Apr 9.

Jodar M, Soler-Ventura A, Oliva R, of Reproduction MB, Development Research Group. Semen proteomics and male infertility. Journal of Proteomics. 2016 Aug 26.

Morrell J. Colloids: Applications in Sperm Preparation for Assisted Reproduction. InAdvances in Colloid Science 2016. InTech.

Opuwari CS, Henkel RR. An update on oxidative damage to spermatozoa and oocytes. BioMed research international. 2016 Jan 28;2016.

Olivares CC, de Souza-Fabjan JM, da Fonseca JF, Balaro MF, de Figueiredo Freitas VJ, de Oliveira RV. Comparison of different sperm selection techniques in ram frozen-thawed sperm. Acta Scientiae Veterinariae. 2017 Apr 13;45:01-11.

Agarwal A, Said TM. Role of sperm chromatin abnormalities and DNA damage in...