Objective: To evaluate the affect of the duration of donor sperm storage on pregnancy success among women undergoing assisted reproduction. Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting: Sperm bank. Patient(s): A total of 119,558 specimens retrieved using a clinical information database of young adult men who were qualified sperm donors at the Hunan Province Human Sperm Bank of China from 2001 to 2016. Intervention(s): Analysis of semen samples and clinical outcomes after semen use. Main Outcome Measure(s): Clinical information included semen parameters before and after freezing, clinical pregnancy, abortion and live birth rates after semen use. Result(s): The sperm's frozen-thaw survival rate decreased from 85.72% to 73.98% after 15 years of cryopreservation (P< .01). The clinical pregnancy rate of women undergoing artificial insemination with donor sperm was 23.09%, 22.36% and 22.32%, the clinical abortion rate was 10.06%, 10.02% and 12.00% and the live birth rate was 82.17%, 80.21% and 80.00% in the groups with 0.5-5, 6-10 and 11-15 storage years, respectively. The clinical pregnancy rate of women undergoing in vitro fertilization was 64.29%, 64.94% and 53.48%, the clinical abortion rate was 12.26%, 11.38% and 17.39% and the live birth rate was 81.63%, 79.11% and 73.91%, in the groups with 0.5-5, 6-10 and 11-15 years, respectively. Conclusion(s):The long-term cryostorage of semen in a human sperm bank does not affect clinical outcomes. However, cryopreservation longer than 5 years negatively influenced the quality of frozen-thawed donor sperm samples. (Fertil Steril Ò 2019;112:663-9. Ó2019 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.) El resumen está disponible en Español al final del artículo.

Semen analysis is used for diagnosing male infertility and evaluating male fertility for more than a century. However, the semen analysis simply represents the population characteristics of sperm. It is not a comprehensive assessment of the male reproductive potential. In this study, 20 semen samples from human sperm bank with distinctive artificial insemination with donor sperm (AID) clinical outcomes were collected and analyzed using a two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE); 45 differentially expressed protein spots were obtained, and 26 proteins were identified. Most differentially expressed proteins were related to sperm motility, energy consumption, and structure. These identified proteins included several sperm proteins associated with the nucleus on the X chromosome (SPANX) proteins. This prospective study aimed to investigate the association between the expression levels of SPANX proteins and the AID clinical outcomes. The proteins identified in this study provided a reference for the molecular mechanism of sperm fertility and revealed a predictive value of the SPANX proteins.

Background: The National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (NHFPCC) issued the “Measures for the Management of Human Sperm Banks,” which was revised in 2003 and is still in effect today. One of the standard guidelines is that potential donors undergo laboratory testing to exclude infectious and genetic diseases and karyotype analysis. However, patient demands for donor genetic testing have also increased, and only karyotype analysis to exclude genetic diseases is not sufficient to meet these demands.Materials and Methods: An electronic survey was distributed to twenty-seven sperm banks to examine donor genetic screening practices at sperm banks in China and to evaluate the qualifications and skills of genetic counselors at the banks. Twenty-six human sperm banks responded to a 32-question survey about their current practices related to genetic testing of sperm donors.Results: The 26 sperm banks reported that all qualified sperm donors undergo karyotype analysis; 22 banks (84.6%) collected three generations of family history from each qualified sperm donor; 10 (38.5%) reported that they attempted to accommodate special requests from donor semen recipients for particular genetic tests. Only 2 of the 26 (7.7%) sperm banks reported that they performed whole-exome sequencing. At all the sperm banks, consent for genetic testing was obtained as part of the overall contract for sperm donors. Nineteen (73.1%) sperm banks had genetic counselors on their staff, while six (23.1%) had no genetic counselors on their staff but had access to genetic counselors at the hospital. Only one (3.8%) sperm bank had no genetic counselors on their staff or at the hospital. Conclusions: The need for larger scale genetic testing of donors and recipients and an extensive panel of genetic tests specific to the Chinese population. Additionally, professionally trained geneticists must be employed as genetic counsellors so that the results of genetic tests and their implications can be explained to donors.

BackgroundIn China, numerous human sperm banks only perform three-generation family history evaluation to exclude genetic diseases with clinical symptoms; therefore, many inherited risks cannot be detected before donor qualification even when a thorough genetic family history evaluation has been performed. Hence, the risk of recessive disease inheritance persists with the current eligibility guidelines in China regarding the donor selection process.MethodsRetrospective study that reviewed the genetic test analyses and clinical outcomes of young adult men who were qualified sperm donors at the Hunan Province Human Sperm Bank of China from January 1, 2018, to May 1, 2021. We included a total of 3231 qualified sperm donors: all donors underwent primary screening for thalassemia and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. Whereafter, 278 of donors underwent genetic testing for specific genes, and 43 donors underwent whole exome sequencing.Results2.4% of 3231 qualified sperm donors might have thalassemia and 1.4% might have G6PD deficiency. Sperm donors with thalassemia and G6PD deficiency would be eliminated. Specific gene testing identified 7 of the 278 donors (2.5%) as carriers of at least one pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant in a gene, including 1.9% of 154 donors (3/154) as carrier variants in α-Like or β-Like globin genes, 17.6% of 17 donors (3/17) as carrier variants in GJB2, 12.5% of 8 donors (1/8) as carrier variants in SMN1. In addition, among the 43 sperm donors carrying the 111 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants, eight (18.6%) were carriers of pathogenic variants of the GJB2 gene. The frequency, therefore, was approximately 1 in 5.ConclusionsThe data suggest that used blood routine and RDT can make a preliminary screening of sperm donors, and special gene testing should be performed for sperm donors according to the regional incidence of specific genetic diseases. Meanwhile, whole exome sequencing can be used as a supplementary application in sperm donor genetic testing, and aid a successful and healthy pregnancy. However, industry guidelines must be modified to incorporate its use.

Background The National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (NHFPCC) issued the “Measures for the Management of Human Sperm Banks,” which was revised in 2003 and is still in effect today. One of the standard guidelines is that potential donors undergo laboratory testing to exclude infectious and genetic diseases and karyotype analysis. However, patient demands for donor genetic testing have also increased, and only karyotype analysis to exclude genetic diseases is not sufficient to meet these demands. Materials and Methods An electronic survey was distributed to twenty-seven sperm banks to examine donor genetic screening practices at sperm banks in China and to evaluate the qualifications and skills of genetic counselors at the banks. Twenty-six human sperm banks responded to a 32-question survey about their current practices related to genetic testing of sperm donors. Results The 26 sperm banks reported that all qualified sperm donors undergo karyotype analysis; 22 banks (84.6%) collected three generations of family history from each qualified sperm donor; 10 (38.5%) reported that they attempted to accommodate special requests from donor semen recipients for particular genetic tests. Only 2 of the 26 (7.7%) sperm banks reported that they performed whole-exome sequencing. At all the sperm banks, consent for genetic testing was obtained as part of the overall contract for sperm donors. Nineteen (73.1%) sperm banks had genetic counselors on their staff, while six (23.1%) had no genetic counselors on their staff but had access to genetic counselors at the hospital. Only one (3.8%) sperm bank had no genetic counselors on their staff or at the hospital. Conclusions The need for larger scale genetic testing of donors and recipients and an extensive panel of genetic tests specific to the Chinese population. Additionally, professionally trained geneticists must be employed as genetic counsellors so that the results of genetic tests and their implications can be explained to donors.