Magnetic-Activated Cell Sorting in Combination with Swim-Up Efficiency Improve Effectivity of Spermatozoa Separation

Correct selection of spermatozoa before their using for an assisted reproductive techniques is one of the crucial step in therapy of human infertility. It was previously reported that male factor plays a major role in infertility. Basic semen analyses and standard methods for sperm selection in many cases does not eliminate sufficiently proportion of spermatozoa with genetics defects. Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (MACS) is a selection method which reduce apoptotic sperm and improve sperm and embryo quality. The aim of our study was the comparison of swim-up method and MACS and their combination. We tested swim-up and MACS alone and treatment of spermatozoa in combination when was is first swim-up and second MACS and vice versa. In this study we evaluated sperm concentration, motility and their DNA integrity before and after separtion methods. On the basis of our results we recommend to use swim-up before MACS method. This approach brings better results in the sperm selection - lower proportion of spermatozoa with fragmented DNA and also it brings better gain of total spermatozoa usable for next IVF or ICSI methods.