Comparison of cryopreserved human sperm from solid surface vitrification and standard vapor freezing method: on motility, morphology, vitality and DNA integrity

Abstract

Solid surface vitrificaition (SSV) is a cryoperservative method that has been used in the cryopreservation of oocytes, and embryos. Here, we report an application of the SSV in the cryopreservation of human spermatozoa. We compared the SSV with a standard freezing method in terms of sperm motility, morphology, vitality and DNA integrity. Sperm motility was determined by computer assisted semen analysis, morphology and vitality were determined by eosin-methylene blue staining, and DNA integrity was determined by a TUNEL assay. We found that while both cryopreservative methods produced spermatozoa with comparable vitality and motility, the SSV gave slightly, but significantly fewer sperm with DNA damage, and loose tail. We concluded that, a cryopreservation of human spermatozoa by SSV is feasible and provides a quick and practical way to preserve human spermatozoa with a comparable, if not better, quality of the preserved spermatozoa to the standard freezing method.