Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IBB), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Embryology at Reproduction Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACER, Tehran, Iran.
PLoS One. 2019 Sep 5;14(9):e0221976. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221976. eCollection 2019.
Physicochemical properties of water molecules as the main compositions of the freezing media can be affected by the electromagnetic fled. The purpose of this study was to apply extremely low repetition rate electromagnetic fields (ELEFs) to change the molecular network of water molecules existing in freezing media used for human sperm cryopreservation. First, different time periods and pulsed electromagnetic fields were used to evaluate the physiochemical properties of water. The lowest rate of cluster size, surface tension, viscosity, and density was observed for water samples exposed to 1000 Hz ELEF for 60 min (P < 0.05) that could be results in small ice crystal formation. Therefore, this treatment was selected for further evaluations in human sperm freezing because there was minimal probability of amorphous ice crystallization in this group. To assess fertilizing potential, human semen samples were subjected to ELEF (1000 Hz) water-made freezing medium and cryopreserved. The highest percentage of total motility, progressive motility, viability, membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential, DNA integrity, and TAC were obtained in frozen ELEF as compared to other groups. The percentage of viable spermatozoa (Annexin V-/PI-) in frozen ELEF was significantly higher than in frozen control. The level of ROS was significantly lower in frozen ELEF when compared to frozen control. It can be concluded that the modification of physicochemical properties of water existing in cryopreservation media by ELEF is a suitable strategy to improve the outcome of cryopreservation.
水分子作为冷冻介质的主要成分的物理化学性质可以受到电磁场的影响。本研究的目的是应用极低重复率电磁场（ELEF）来改变存在于用于人类精子冷冻保存的冷冻介质中的水分子的分子网络。首先，使用不同的时间段和脉冲电磁场来评估水的物理化学性质。暴露于 1000 Hz 的 ELEF 60 分钟的水样品的簇大小、表面张力、粘度和密度的最低率最低（P<0.05），这可能导致小冰晶的形成。因此，由于该组中几乎没有无定形冰结晶的可能性，因此选择这种处理方法用于进一步评估人类精子冷冻。为了评估受精潜力，将人类精液样本用 ELEF（1000 Hz）水制成的冷冻介质进行冷冻保存。与其他组相比，在冷冻 ELEF 中获得了总活力、渐进性活力、活力、膜完整性、线粒体膜电位、DNA 完整性和 TAC 的最高百分比。与冷冻对照相比，在冷冻 ELEF 中存活的精子（Annexin V-/PI-）的百分比显著更高。与冷冻对照相比，在冷冻 ELEF 中 ROS 水平显著降低。可以得出结论，通过 ELEF 改变冷冻保存介质中存在的水的物理化学性质是改善冷冻保存结果的合适策略。
