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In human follicular fluid, D-Asp is present at a relatively higher concentration in younger women than in older patients and there appears to be a relationship between the concentration of d-Asp and fertility outcome parameters. These findings suggest that follicular D-Asp concentration may be considered as an alternative or additional biochemical marker for oocyte quality in patients undergoing IVF programmes.

Introduction: D-Aspartate is an endogenous amino acid involved in LH and testosterone release in humans. In this study we investigate the impact of nutritional supplementation of sodium D-aspartate on the improvement of sperm quality in sub-fertile patients and the rate of pregnancies that occurred with their partners. Materials and Methods: A group of 30 patients affected by oligo-asthenozoospermia and a group of 30 patients affected by asthenozoospermia were treated with a daily dose of sodium D-aspartate for 90 days. After which, the change in spermatozoa concentration and their motility and the pregnancies that occurred with their partners were recorded. Results: We found that the supplementation of D-aspartate significantly increased the concentration and the motility of spermatozoa. In oligoasthenozoospermic patients the increase of sperm concentration was found to be 2.0-fold, P < 0.001 (from a mean of 8.2 ± 4.5 million spermatozoa/ml of seminal plasma before treatment to a mean of 16.5 ± 5.5 million after treatment). In asthenozoospermic patients, the increase of spermatozoa was 1.6-fold, P < 0.001 (from a mean of 29.9 ± 5.7 million spermatozoa/ml before treatment to a mean of 48.7 ± 12.8 after treatment). The same positive effects also occurred for sperm motility. Oligo-asthenozoospermic patients showed an increase of rapid progressive spermatozoa motility from a mean of 15.5% ± 4.4% before treatment to a mean of 23.1% ± 4.7% after D-aspartate treatment (1.49-fold increased, P < 0.001). The same effects occurred in oligo-asthenozoospermic patients. In these subjects the increase of rapid progressive spermatozoa motility was 1.86-fold (from 11.6% ± 3.9% before treatment to 21.6 ± 7.5 after treatment, P < 0.001). In addition, the treatment of D-aspartate in these patients consequently led to a significantly increased number of pregnancies occurring in the partners of the treated patients. Conclusions: Treatment of sub-fertile patients with sodium D-aspartate improved the number and the motility of the spermatozoa and consequently improved the rate of pregnancies of their partners.

Neither the survival rate nor the subsequent development and chances of implantation, differed between embryos frozen at the blastocyst stage following biopsy and those frozen intact.

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