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A cryoprotectant supplemented with pentoxifylline can improve the effect of freezing on the motility of human testicular sperm

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2021

Yang Xian Open the ORCID record for Yang Xian [Opens in a new window] ,
Min Jiang ,
Bo Liu ,
Wenrui Zhao ,
Bin Zhou ,
Xiao Liu ,
Shasha Liu  and
Fuping Li
Yang Xian
Affiliation:
Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China
Min Jiang
Affiliation:
Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China
Bo Liu
Affiliation:
Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China
Wenrui Zhao
Affiliation:
Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China
Bin Zhou
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China Laboratory of Molecular Translational Medicine/Centre for Translational Medicine, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China
Xiao Liu
Affiliation:
Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China
Shasha Liu
Affiliation:
Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China
Fuping Li*
Affiliation:
Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu610041, China Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Disease of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu610041, China
*
Author for correspondence: Fuping Li. Andrology/Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 1416, Section 1, Chenglong Avenue, Chengdu610041, China. E-mail: lfpsnake@scu.edu.cn
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Summary

This study examined the effect of a cryoprotectant with and without pentoxifylline supplementation on the motility and viability of human testicular sperm, both before and after freezing. Testicular samples were obtained from 68 patients with azoospermia who came to the Andrology Service of West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, for testicular biopsies from December 2019 to April 2020. All patients were assigned randomly to two groups: experimental, whose testicular sperm were added to the cryoprotectant with pentoxifylline, and the control, whose testicular sperm were added to the cryoprotectant without pentoxifylline. Both groups used the same freezing and thawing methods. Testicular sperm motility in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group, both before and after cryopreservation. The recovery rate of sperm motility in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The percentage of samples with motile testicular sperm in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group after thawing. Sperm viability was unchanged between the experimental and control groups, both before and after freezing. Overall, a pentoxifylline-supplemented cryoprotectant can significantly improve the motility of testicular sperm before and after cryopreservation.

Keywords

CryopreservationPentoxifyllineSperm motilityTesticular sperm
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 92 - 97
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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