Effects of semen processing on the generation of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial membrane potential of human spermatozoa

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of semen processing on the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in spermatozoa, and to develop reliable indexes for the evaluation of sperm quality during sperm preparation. Swim-up and density gradient centrifugation methods were used to separate semen in oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT), leucocytospermia (LC) and normozoospermia groups. Levels of ROS and MMP were measured by flow cytometry. Before preparation, the patients with abnormal semen parameters had a lower MMP and higher ROS, and there was a negative correlation between MMP and ROS. The levels of MMP and ROS increased significantly, especially ROS produced by swim-up. A significant difference was found between the correlation of MMP and total normal motile sperm count after preparation in the OAT group. The level of ROS was associated with the amount of white blood cells in the LC group. The MMP can be used as an objective index to evaluate the sperm quality of OAT patients, and the combination of MMP and ROS can be used to assess the efficiency of sperm preparation in LC patients. These findings can guide selection of the ideal sperm separation technique for different sperm samples.

Curcumin improves asthenozoospermia by inhibiting reactive oxygen species reproduction through nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 activation

“…Also, several other researchers reported defects in mitochondrial respiratory activity of asthenozoospermia (Ferramosca, Focarelli, Piomboni, Coppola, & Zara, 2008;Pelliccione et al, 2011). Additionally, it has been pointed out that reduced motile spermatozoa of infertile patients were shown to exhibit lower MMP and increasing of spermatozoa MMP is positively correlated with sperm motility and fertility potential (Chan & Chan, 2015;Li et al, 2012). Our present research presented that curcumin-treated human spermatozoa showed increased mitochondrial activity compared to that in the AS group, indicating that curcumin might increase the motility of spermatozoa through improving mitochondrial function.…”

“…Our results showed reduced MMP in the spermatozoa of asthenozoospermia individuals compared to that of normozoospermic individuals. Additionally, it has been pointed out that reduced motile spermatozoa of infertile patients were shown to exhibit lower MMP and increasing of spermatozoa MMP is positively correlated with sperm motility and fertility potential (Chan & Chan, 2015;Li et al, 2012). Additionally, it has been pointed out that reduced motile spermatozoa of infertile patients were shown to exhibit lower MMP and increasing of spermatozoa MMP is positively correlated with sperm motility and fertility potential (Chan & Chan, 2015;Li et al, 2012).…”

Low amounts of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species define human sperm quality

“…ROS levels can be correlated with human semen quality, as non-normozoospermic samples seem to have higher amounts than normozoospermic samples (Li et al 2012), and there is a relationship between poor semen parameters and ROS levels (Wang et al 2003, Allamaneni et al 2005, Ramya et al 2010. However, other studies failed to confirm these findings (Zorn et al 2010).…”

“…Conversely, the MitoSOXCC subpopulation was increased in non-normozoospermic samples. Other groups have found relationships between ROS levels and sperm quality or alterations in sperm parameters, including motility, morphology, and concentration (Wang et al 2003, Henkel et al 2005, Cocuzza et al 2008, Aitken et al 2012c, Li et al 2012, Ferramosca et al 2013. Conventional processing techniques used to prepare sperm for ART are often associated with an induction of sperm ROS, likely due to both the centrifugation itself and the removal of putative semen antioxidants (Agarwal et al 1994a, Thilagavathi et al 2012.…”

Segregation of sperm subpopulations in normozoospermic infertile men

“…Numerous methods have been used to separate normal spermatozoa prior to ART, e.g., discontinuous percoll density gradient centrifugation [Chen and Bongso 1999], sperm selection through albumin gradient [Soderlund and Lundin 2000], glass wool filtration , and the swim up technique [Paasch et al 2007]. Most commonly swim up and density gradient separation are employed to separate good quality sperm [Allamaneni et al 2005b;Jackson et al 2010;Li et al 2011]. However swim-up requires motile sperm and yields a lower number of sperm as compared to density gradient where a greater number of sperm are retrieved [Allamaneni et al 2005b].…”