Picomolar gradients of progesterone select functional human sperm even in subfertile samples

GATICA LV; GUIDOBALDI HA; MONTESINOS, MM; TEVES ME; MORENO IA; UÑATES DR; MOLINA RI; GIOJALAS LC

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2013 p. 1 - 1

ore than 1 million infertility treatments are practiced around the world per year, but only 30% of the couples succeed in taking a baby home. Reproductive technology depends in part on sperm quality, which influences not only fertilization but also embryo development and implantation. In order to provide a better quality sperm subpopulation, innovative sperm selection techniques based on physiological sperm features are needed. Spermatozoa at an optimum state may be selected by following an increasing concentration gradient of picomolar progesterone, a steroid secreted by the cumulus cells at the time of ovulation. In this study we developed a method to recruit spermatozoa at the best functional state, based on sperm guidance toward progesterone. The sperm selection assay (SSA) consists of a device with two wells connected by a tube.Onewellwas filled with the sperm suspension and the other with picomolar progesterone, which diffused inside the connecting tube as a gradient. The spe