The impact of spermatozoa preincubation time and spontaneous acrosome reaction in intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a controlled randomized study
Ragaa T Mansour, Mennatallah G Serour, Amal M Abbas, Ahmed Kamal, Nevine A Tawab, Mohamed A Aboulghar, Gamal I Serour, Ragaa T Mansour, Mennatallah G Serour, Amal M Abbas, Ahmed Kamal, Nevine A Tawab, Mohamed A Aboulghar, Gamal I Serour
Abstract
Objective: To determine the optimum time interval between semen processing and incubation before intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and correlate it with the acrosomal reaction rate.
Design: Controlled randomized study.
Setting: The Egyptian IVF-ET Center.
Patient(s): Couples with male factor infertility undergoing ICSI using ejaculated semen.
Intervention(s): The patients were prospectively randomized according to differences in sperm preincubation time before ICSI into 1-hour, 3-hour, and 5-hour groups. The status of the acrosome was studied using electron microscopy.
Main outcome measure(s): The primary outcome measures were fertilization rate and acrosome reaction rate. Secondary outcome measures were the implantation and pregnancy rates.
Result(s): The rate of acrosomally reacted spermatozoa was the highest (68.2%) after 5 hours of incubation and lowest (25.6%) after 1 hour of incubation. The difference was statistically significant. The fertilization rate was the highest (74%) using spermatozoa incubated for 3 hours as compared with 1 hour (70%) and 5 hours (67%), but the difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusion(s): Acrosome reaction is time dependent; the optimum incubation time of spermatozoa before ICSI was 3 hours, which resulted in the highest fertilization rate.
Source: PubMed