Background: There is conflicting evidence regarding the impact of season on the assisted reproductive technology outcome.
Objective: To retrospectively compare three year outcome of women undergoing their first intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycle, across seasons.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 3,670 women who underwent their first intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycle in Mehr Medical Institute, Rasht, Iran between April 2010 and May 2014 were studied. Women were divided into four groups according to the day of oocyte retrival as: spring (n = 808), summer (n = 994), autumn (n = 1066), and winter (n = 802). Basal and stimulation charecteristics were compared among groups.
Results: While sperm concentration and motility were significantly lower during summer, the total number of retrieved and metaphase II oocytes were significantly higher (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001, p = 0.004, p = 0.02, respectively). Fertilization rate were significantly higher during autumn (p = 0.0001). Also, the number of high- quality transferred embryos were significantly higher during summer and winter (p = 0.03). A similar pattern was observed in implantation rate and pregnancy over the four seasons
Conclusion: Despite the fact that intracytoplasmic sperm injection minimize the seasonal effect on pregnancy outcome, changes in pregnancy rate still occur among different seasons without particular pattern. It seems that performing assisted reproductive technology procedures in a particular season should be considered as an effective factor.
Key words: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, Seasons, Pregnancy outcome.
Background & Objective: The effect of storage time and temperature on the prepared semen sample was evaluated, but the optimal condition is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of long-term incubation of prepared sperm at testicular temperature versus room temperature on semen parameters and DNA fragmentation index (DFI).Materials & Methods: Sperm samples were collected from 40 patients between 2019 and 2020. Each sample was separated into two parts and underwent a non-direct swimup method. One group was placed in a 35°C incubator, and the other group was kept at room temperature (26°C) in the dark. Both groups were evaluated at intervals of 45 minutes, 24 hours and 48 hours after sampling in terms of sperm concentration, motility, morphology, and DFI. Student t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance were used.Results: Sperm count (P=0.007) and motility (P<0.001) at 26°C in three-time intervals of 45 minutes, 24 hours and 48 hours were significantly higher than 35°C. The proportion of normal morphology spermatozoa at 26 and 35°C at 45 min, 24 h, and 48 h did not show a significant difference (P=0.08). DFI at 26°C in three-time intervals was significantly lower than 35°C (P=0.008).
Conclusion:The results of this study indicated that when the prepared sperm samples are incubated for 24 h at 26°C compared to 35°C, they show significantly better quality and good quality of sperm can be retained for several hours if stored at room temperature.
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