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Magnetic-activated cell sorting of non-apoptotic spermatozoa improves the quality of embryos according to female age: a prospective sibling oocyte study

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
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Abstract

Purpose

The main aim of our study was to evaluate the benefit of the use of non-apoptotic spermatozoa selected by magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) for ICSI procedures for couples in which the women had good prognoses and the male factor of infertility was teratozoospermia.

Methods

Twenty-six couples were treated with ICSI after MACS selection of non-apoptotic spermatozoa following a sibling oocyte approach. Half of the oocytes were microinjected with conventionally prepared spermatozoa, and the other half were microinjected with non-apoptotic, MACS-selected spermatozoa. To assess the influence of MACS selection of spermatozoa on the outcomes of the ICSI cycles, the fertilization, embryo quality, pregnancy, and delivery rates were evaluated and compared between the sibling oocyte groups.

Results

When subpopulations of couples according to female age were analyzed, a significant difference in quality of blastocyst was observed. More precisely, in a group that was treated with MACS-ICSI, a higher percentage of good quality blastocysts was found among women older than 30 years (75.0 vs. 33.3%; P = 0.028), while there was no difference among younger women. If all included couples were compared regardless of age, no significant difference was observed in the outcome of the ICSI/MACS-ICSI cycles in terms of oocytes and embryos. Additionally, after the ICSI and MACS-ICSI procedures, the morphologies of the prepared spermatozoa were compared. Results showed that the overall percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa did not differ significantly between the ICSI and MACS-ICSI procedures. However, detailed analyses of the morphologically abnormal spermatozoa revealed significantly more spermatozoa with abnormal tails after MACS-ICSI procedure, which may be potential consequence of the selection procedure. Moreover, the trends towards less spermatozoa with abnormal heads and towards more spermatozoa with abnormal necks and midpieces after MACS-ICSI procedure were revealed, although the differences were not significant.

Conclusions

Couples dealing with male infertility due to teratozoospermia can benefit from MACS selection of spermatozoa with higher percentage of good quality blastocysts but only when the woman is older than 30 years.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all gynecologists, clinical embryologists, medical nurses, and other staff of the Reproductive Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, for all the support. We would like to thank also our Andrology Laboratory for the semen analysis.

Funding

The study was funded with tertiary project of University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia, granted to Dr. Martin Stimpfel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slajmerjeva 3, 1000, Ljubljana, SI, Slovenia

    Martin Stimpfel, Ivan Verdenik, Branko Zorn & Irma Virant-Klun

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  1. Martin Stimpfel
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  2. Ivan Verdenik
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Correspondence to Martin Stimpfel.

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Stimpfel, M., Verdenik, I., Zorn, B. et al. Magnetic-activated cell sorting of non-apoptotic spermatozoa improves the quality of embryos according to female age: a prospective sibling oocyte study. J Assist Reprod Genet 35, 1665–1674 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-018-1242-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-018-1242-1

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