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Correlation of sperm penetration assay score with polyspermy rate in in-vitro fertilization

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Assisted Reproduction volume 2, Article number: 3 (2005) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

The sperm penetration assay (SPA) is used to predict the fertilizing capacity of sperm. Thus, some programs rely on SPA scores to formulate insemination plans in conjunction with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a relationship exists between SPA scores and polyspermy rates during conventional IVF cycles.

Methods

A total of 1350 consecutive IVF patients using conventional IVF insemination were evaluated in the study. Oocytes were inseminated three hours post-retrieval by the addition of 150,000 to 300,000 progressively motile sperm. Approximately 18 hours after insemination, the oocytes were evaluated for fertilization by the visualization of pronuclei. The presence of three or more pronuclei was indicative of polyspermy. Polyspermy rates, fertilization success, embryo quality, and pregnancy rates were analyzed retrospectively to evaluate their relationship with SPA score, count, motility, number of progressively motile sperm inseminated, oocyte pre-insemination incubation time, patient age, and diagnosis.

Results

A significant positive relationship was observed between SPA score and polyspermy rate (rs = 0.10, p < 0.05). Patients with a normal SPA score had significantly higher polyspermy rates than those with abnormal SPA scores (6.3% ± 1.5% vs. 2.0% ± 0.7%, p < 0.05). Fertilization percentage was significantly lower in the group with severely abnormal SPA scores versus all other SPA groups (57.5% ± 2.1% vs. 70.2% ± 1.3%, p < 0.005). Although embryo quality was not affected, both clinical pregnancy and implantation rates improved slightly as SPA score increased. In addition, there was a decrease in the rate of spontaneous abortion as SPA score increased.

Conclusions

These data indicate SPA score is positively correlated with polyspermy rates and IVF fertilization percentage. Additionally, there is a slight increase in clinical pregnancy rates, and embryo implantation rates with increased SPA. Furthermore, there is a slight decrease in spontaneous abortions rates related to increased SPA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Andrology and IVF Laboratories, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA

    Vincent W Aoki & Douglas T Carrell

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA

    Vincent W Aoki & Douglas T Carrell

  3. Department of Physiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA

    Vincent W Aoki & Douglas T Carrell

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA

    C Matthew Peterson, Kirtly Parker-Jones, Harry H Hatasaka, Mark Gibson, Ivan Huang & Douglas T Carrell

Authors
  1. Vincent W Aoki
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  2. C Matthew Peterson
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  3. Kirtly Parker-Jones
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  4. Harry H Hatasaka
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  5. Mark Gibson
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  6. Ivan Huang
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  7. Douglas T Carrell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas T Carrell.

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Authors' Contributions

VWA designed the study, carried out statistical evaluation, and was the primary author of the manuscript. CMP, KPJ, HHH, MG, and IH were involved in management of the IVF cases and collection of the clinical data. DTC was responsible for the implementation of the study, administrative requirements including IRB approval, statistical evaluation of the data, and preparation of the manuscript.

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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Aoki, V.W., Peterson, C.M., Parker-Jones, K. et al. Correlation of sperm penetration assay score with polyspermy rate in in-vitro fertilization . J Exp Clin Assist Reprod 2, 3 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-1050-2-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-1050-2-3

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Assisted Reproduction

ISSN: 1743-1050