The contribution of the toxicity of a glycerol–egg yolk–citrate cryopreservative to the decline in human sperm motility during cryopreservation

in Reproduction
Authors:
E. A. McLaughlin
Search for other papers by E. A. McLaughlin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
W. C. L. Ford
Search for other papers by W. C. L. Ford in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
M. G. R. Hull
Search for other papers by M. G. R. Hull in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1530/jrf.0.0950749
Volume/Issue:
Volume 95: Issue 3
Page Range:
749–754
Article Type:
Research Article
Online Publication Date:
Aug 1992
Free access

Sign up for journal news

Summary. The contribution of the toxicity of glycerol–egg yolk–citrate (GEYC) cryopreservative medium to the loss of function of human spermatozoa during cryopreservation was determined by investigating the effect of mixing semen with the medium on sperm motility. The percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa, velocity (μm s−1) and lateral head displacement (μm) (mean ± sem, n = 28) were 55 ± 4·1, 47 ± 2·7, 4·4 ± 0·2 and 32 ± 3·8, 40 ± 2·5, 3·6 ± 0·25 and 15 ± 2·5, 28 ± 1·1, 2·8 ± 0·15 in suspensions of washed spermatozoa prepared from fresh, GEYC-treated and frozen–thawed semen, respectively. The variables changed only slightly after incubation for 3 h. The toxicity of GEYC did not vary significantly between samples which survived the complete freeze–thaw cycle well or very poorly. The toxicity of GEYC is responsible for about 50% of the loss of progressively motile spermatozoa during the complete cryopreservation process, but has little effect on the quality of motility. Susceptibility to GEYC does not explain observed differences in the ability of semen samples to survive freezing.

Keywords: cryopreservation; spermatozoa; motility; glycerol; donor insemination; human

Reproduction is committed to supporting researchers in demonstrating the impact of their articles published in the journal.

The two types of article metrics we measure are (i) more traditional full-text views and pdf downloads, and (ii) Altmetric data, which shows the wider impact of articles in a range of non-traditional sources, such as social media.

More information is on the Reasons to publish page.

Sept 2018 onwards Past Year Past 30 Days
Full Text Views 1114 884 3
PDF Downloads 182 48 0

 

  • Collapse
  • Expand
Print ISSN:
1470-1626
Online ISSN:
1741-7899