Boston IVF, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Biol Reprod. 2019 Dec 24;101(6):1076-1082. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioz032.
Natural sperm selection in humans is a rigorous process resulting in the highest quality sperm reaching, and having an opportunity to fertilize, the oocyte. Relative to other mammalian species, the human ejaculate consists of a heterogeneous pool of sperm, varying in characteristics such as shape, size, and motility. Semen preparation in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has long been performed using either a simple swim-up method or density gradients. Both methodologies provide highly motile sperm populations; however neither replicates the complex selection processes seen in nature. A number of methods have now been developed to mimic some of the natural selection processes that exist in the female reproductive tract. These methods attempt to select a better individual, or population of, spermatozoa when compared to classical methods of preparation. Of the approaches already tested, platforms based upon sperm membrane markers, such as hyaluronan or annexin V, have been used to either select or deselect sperm with varied success. One technology that utilizes the size, motility, and other characteristics of sperm to improve both semen analysis and sperm selection is microfluidics. Here, we sought to review the efficacy of both available and emerging techniques that aim to improve the quality of the sperm pool available for use in ART.
人类自然精子选择是一个严格的过程，只有质量最高的精子才有机会到达卵子并使其受精。与其他哺乳动物物种相比，人类精液由具有不同特征的精子组成，如形状、大小和运动能力等。辅助生殖技术（ART）中的精液处理长期以来一直使用简单的泳动方法或密度梯度法进行。这两种方法都提供了高活力的精子群体；然而，它们都没有复制自然界中存在的复杂选择过程。现在已经开发了许多方法来模拟女性生殖道中存在的一些自然选择过程。与传统的准备方法相比，这些方法试图选择更好的个体或精子群体。在已经测试过的方法中，基于透明质酸或 annexin V 等精子膜标记物的平台已被用于选择或淘汰精子，取得了不同程度的成功。一种利用精子大小、活力和其他特征来改善精液分析和精子选择的技术是微流控技术。在这里，我们试图回顾现有的和新兴的技术，这些技术旨在提高用于 ART 的精子库的质量。
