Clinical Study on the Lubricant
Fertile Sterile. 2008 Feb;89(2):375-9. Epub 2007 May 16.Effect of vaginal lubricating gels on sperm motility and chromatin integrity: a prospective comparative study.
Agarwal A, Deepinder F, Cocuzza M, Short RA, Evenson DP.
Reproductive Research Center, Glickman Urological Institute and Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. agarwaa@ccf.org
TARGET: To evaluate the effect of Lubricant Pre-Seed, FemGlide, Astroglide and Replens on human sperm motility and chromatin integrity. DESIGN: Prospective, comparative in vitro study. LOCATION: Andrology laboratory in a tertiary care hospital. PATIENT(S): 13 sperm donors with documented normozoospermia. INTERVENTION(S): 1) Incubation of 13 seed samples each in human tubal fluid media (HTF) spiked with 10% each of Pre-Seed, FemGlide, Astroglide and Replens lubricating gel. After an incubation period of 30 minutes, the progressive sperm motility was assessed under the light microscope. 2) Samples from 12 patients were placed in positive control (HTF), negative control (10% KY Jelly lube), and 10% vol/vol each of Pre-Seed and FemGlide lube. After 4 hours of culture, the DFI of the spermatozoa was determined using the acridine orange-based sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). MAIN MEASUREMENT PARAMETERS: Sperm motility and percentage DNA fragmentation index. RESULTS: 1) Percent motility was not significantly different between HTF controls and pre-seed, whereas FemGlide, Replens and Astroglide lubricant showed a significant decrease in motility. 2) There was no significant difference in percent DNA fragmentation index between the HTF controls and Pre-Seed, but there was a significant deterioration in sperm chromatin quality with FemGlide and KY Jelly. CONCLUSIONS: