Use of polyvinylpyrrolidone and hyaluronic acid as sperm slower agent to compare recovery rate, motility rate, and viability of spermatozoa post thawing

Abstract

Infertility affects 8-12 percent of couples in their reproductive years, with malefactors accounting for 20-30 percent of cases. Freezing sperm is one technique to avoid ICSI (IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection) delays by conserving spermatozoa. PVP and Hyaluronic Acid (HA) slow down the movement of spermatozoa, hence the best spermatozoa have faster motility. There have been no previous studies comparing frozen spermatozoa with PVP and HA exposure. The goal of this study is to examine the recovery rate, motility rate, and viability rate of spermatozoa exposed to PVP versus HA as a handling medium before cryopreservation of individual spermatozoa. The research was carried out in the Medical Biology Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga. This study used ejaculate from 10 volunteers as a sample. The WHO technique was used to assess all samples for spermatozoa motility, concentration, and morphology. To make spermatozoa handling easier, about 10-15 motile spermatozoa were selected for cryopreservation in PVP and SpermSlow media using a micromanipulator. Selected spermatozoa were then transferred to a cryotec that had already been pre-filled with sperm freeze media and cryopreserved using the ultra-rapid freezing procedure. Overnight, spermatozoa were frozen in liquid nitrogen. Finally, the quality of post-thawed spermatozoa was evaluated. Finally, the recovery rate, motility rate, and viability rate of post-thawed spermatozoa were evaluated. The recovery rate (p=0,520), motility rate (p=0,595), progressive motility rate (p=0.162), and viability rate (p=0,762) of spermatozoa with and without PVP exposure before low sperm count cryopreservation are all the same in this study. There is no difference between PVP and HA, except that Hyaluronic Acid has a little higher rate of progressive motility, although more testing on the ultrastructure of sperm function is needed.