Department of Anatomical Sciences, Reproductive Sciences and Technology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shahid Akbarabadi Clinical Research Development Unit (ShACRDU), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2022 Sep;306(3):901-910. doi: 10.1007/s00404-022-06618-w. Epub 2022 Jun 2.
Sperm quality plays a vital role in successful fertilization and pregnancy. Patients with fertilization failure (total failure or low-fertilization rate) despite having normal semen parameters are a challenging group whose sperm cannot fertilize the oocyte via the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique. Microfluidics is offered as a new method for proper sperm sorting.
This study aimed to evaluate sperm parameters, DNA fragmentation index (DFI), expression of phospholipase C zeta 1 (PLCZ1), and transition nuclear proteins 1 (TNP1) mRNAs in sperm selected by microfluidic sperm sorting (MSS) chip compared with conventional density gradient centrifugation technique in patients with fertilization failure following ICSI. Subsequence fertilization rate and embryo quality were assayed.
Normal morphology and total motility were significantly higher, and DFI was significantly lower in sperm selected by the MSS chip in fertilization failure and control groups. The RT-PCR results demonstrated a significant increase in the expression of PLCZ1 and TNP1 genes in sperm of both groups selected by MSS chips compared to the DGC method. In addition, with the selected sperm by MSS chip, an increase in fertilization rate and improvement of embryo quality was obtained.
The present study findings show that sperm sorting by the microfluidic method improves fertilization rate in patients with poor fertilization outcomes following ICSI.
精子质量在成功受精和妊娠中起着至关重要的作用。尽管精液参数正常，但受精失败（完全失败或低受精率）的患者是一个具有挑战性的群体，他们的精子无法通过胞浆内单精子注射（ICSI）技术使卵子受精。微流控技术被提供作为一种新的精子适当分选方法。
本研究旨在评估精子参数、DNA 碎片化指数（DFI）、PLCZ1 表达和 TNP1 mRNA 在 ICSI 后受精失败患者的微流控精子分选（MSS）芯片分选精子与常规密度梯度离心技术相比的差异。随后检测受精率和胚胎质量。
在受精失败和对照组中，MSS 芯片分选精子的正常形态和总活力显著更高，DFI 显著更低。RT-PCR 结果表明，与 DGC 方法相比，两组中由 MSS 芯片分选的精子中 PLCZ1 和 TNP1 基因的表达显著增加。此外，通过 MSS 芯片分选精子，可以提高受精率并改善胚胎质量。
本研究结果表明，微流控方法的精子分选可以提高 ICSI 后受精结局不良患者的受精率。
