What is it about?
Most studies that have assessed the effect of abstinence periods on sperm motility parameters in men with a sperm concentration below 15 million/ml have detected a higher percentage of motile spermatozoa in samples obtained after short abstinence periods. Studies of men with sperm concentrations above 15 million/ml have reported significantly decreased motile sperm counts after 24 h of abstinence compared with longer abstinence periods. This study aims to assess if a short abstinence period of only 2 h will yield spermatozoa with better motility characteristics than samples collected after 4–7 days?
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Why is it important?
The second raw ejaculate demonstrated lower semen volume (P < 0.0001), sperm concentration (P = 0.003) and sperm counts in all motility sub-groups (P < 0.001) but higher percentages of spermatozoa with higher velocity (P < 0.01), progressiveness (P < 0.001) and hyperactivation (P < 0.001), compared with the first raw ejaculate. Overall, despite lower semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm counts and total motile counts, higher percentages of motile spermatozoa with higher velocity and progressiveness were detected in samples obtained after 2 h.
Perspectives
Despite the significantly lower semen volume, sperm concentration and total sperm counts in all motility sub-groups, the significantly higher percentage of spermatozoa with better motility characteristics (velocity, progressiveness and hyperactivation) in the second ejaculate, may provide and allow for a simpler and more effective selection of higher quality spermatozoa. This could prove to be an advantage for ART procedures such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a large number of spermatozoa is not needed. It can also be speculated that pooling two consecutive ejaculates obtained after 4–7 days and after 2 h, could be an advantage for intrauterine insemination where a large number of motile spermatozoa are needed.
Dr. Hiva Alipour
Aalborg Universitet
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Improved sperm kinematics in semen samples collected after 2 h versus 4–7 days of ejaculation abstinence, Human Reproduction, May 2017, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dex101.
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