EFFECTS OF PERCOLL DISCONTINUOUS DENSITY GRADIENTS VS SPERMPREP-II VSSEPHADEX G-50 GEL INFILTRATION ON SEMEN PARAMETERS

There are various methods of separating sperm from seminal plasma for subsequent intrauterine insemination Some of these same techniques hav e been employed for female sex selection. The purpose of the present s tudy was to assess and compare semen parameters following Sephadex, Pe rcoll. and SpermPrep(TM)II separation techniques. The SpermPrep(TM)II is also a Sephadex preparation but uses a different bead size, less Se phadex, and is a slightly quicker method. The specimens (n = 16) were initially evaluated for count, (C; x 10(6)/mL), percent motility (MO), grade of motility (GR; percent) and hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test s cores. Each specimen was then divided into three equal aliquots and pr epared as follows: (1) layered onto a modified Percoll discontinuous d ensity gradient column; (2) processed using SpermPrep(TM)II; and (3) f iltered through a Sephadex gel filtration column (G-50). The results s how all three treatments yielded lower (P < 0.01) counts as compared t o control values, but no differences were noted among them. Percoll Sp ermPrep(TM)II increased MO (P<0.01) whereas Sephadex reduced it (P = N S). Percoll and SpermPrep(TM)II ipmproved the percent age of better qu ality sperm but not Sephadex; SpermPrep(TM)II was slightly higher than Percoll, but the difference was not significant, There were increases (P < 0.05) in HOS values in all experimental treatments, with SpermPr ep(TM)II having the highest scores. However, this study did not show a s many males with HOS scores below 50% as noted in other studies. Perc oll and SpermPrep(TM)II seem to be equally effective methods for produ cing high-quality sperm for intrauterine insemination or in vitro fert ilization.