The effect of in vitro sperm capacitation on sperm velocity and motility as measured by an in-office, integrated, microcomputerized system for semen analysis.

The authors measured the effects of in vitro washing and capacitation on sperm velocity and motility on one hundred males, using an in-office, integrated, microcomputerized system for objective semen analysis. Sperm characteristics, including sperm velocity, percentage of motile sperm, and the motility index improved significantly following the washing procedure. Average sperm velocity increased from 19.9 microns per second in the original specimens to 26.3 mic/sec following washing (P less than 0.05), while percentage of motile sperm and the sperm motility index (MI) increased from 30% to 86% (P less than 0.01) and 6.6 to 22.5 (P less than 0.01) respectively. The most significant differences occurred in the asthenospermic subgroup, with sperm velocity increasing from 16.3 microns per second to 24.6 mic/sec (P less than .001), percentage motility increasing from 15% motility to 85% motility (P less than 0.001), and the motility index (MI) increasing from 2.4 to 21.6 (P less than 0.001). The advantage of a widely acceptable method for quantitative evaluation of semen quality is discussed.