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Next day determination of ejaculatory sperm motility after overnight shipment of semen to remote locations

  • Gamete Biology
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To develop a method for delayed assessment of sperm motility, after shipment of semen to a remote laboratory. Sperm in semen were labeled with the MitoTracker® Red CM-H2XRos reagent, and fixed with 3.7 % formaldehyde by the laboratory technicians at the origin of the semen. This treatment reflected well sperm mitochondrial activity, and the MitoTracker® signal was related to sperm motility and velocity for 2–3 days following ejaculation.

Methods

Sperm motility and velocity were evaluated manually and by computer assisted semen analysis (CASA), respectively. Fluorescence assessment of individual sperm was carried out with the computer assisted Metamorph v4.6.9 program. Emission levels of MitoTracker® spermatozoa were studied in room temperature and cooled semen, or in the respective room temperature swim-up sperm fractions following ejaculation, and on the second day (N = 103 samples, 89 men) and third day (N = 10 samples, 8 men).

Results

Sperm with optical density (O.D.) ≥0.7 showed close correlations with ejaculatory sperm motility and velocity even after second day (r = 0.92, p < 0.001, N = 103 samples). Further, the multiple of sperm motility and velocity was also related to the proportion of high MitoTracker® reagent emission sperm (r = 0.83, p < 0.001, N = 103 samples). MitoTracker® dye fluorescence on the second day accurately reflected the ejaculatory sperm motility (r = 0.90, p < 0.001). Thus, a shipping delay would not adversely affect the results.

Conclusions

The delayed assessment of sperm motility in samples treated with MitoTracker® Red CM-H2XRos reagent and shipped to remote laboratory truly reflects the level of sperm motility at the time of the ejaculation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jill Stronk, B.S and Lynne Vigue, M.Sc. for excellent technical assistance. Part of this work was supported by grants from the NIH (HD-19505, OH-04061).

Conflict of interest

MJ is an employee of Thermo Fisher Scientific, the manufacturer of MitoTracker Red. The other listed authors have no financial, commercial or corporate conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histology and Embryology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Campus, 07070, Antalya, Turkey

    Leyla Sati

  2. The Sperm Physiology Laboratory, Division of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA

    David Bennett & Gabor Huszar

  3. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Eugene, OR, USA

    Michael Janes

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  1. Leyla Sati
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  2. David Bennett
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  4. Gabor Huszar
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Correspondence to Leyla Sati.

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Sati, L., Bennett, D., Janes, M. et al. Next day determination of ejaculatory sperm motility after overnight shipment of semen to remote locations. J Assist Reprod Genet 32, 117–125 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0365-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0365-2

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