Jh. Check et al., EFFECTS OF PERCOLL DISCONTINUOUS DENSITY GRADIENTS VS SPERMPREP-II VSSEPHADEX G-50 GEL INFILTRATION ON SEMEN PARAMETERS, Archives of andrology, 31(1), 1993, pp. 69-73
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.