Establishment of a novel assessment of the quality of human spermatozoa measuring mitochondrial oxygen metabolism

• Published in: BMC research notes Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 123
• Main Authors: Taniguchi, Hisanori, Matsuo, Yoshiyuki, Shimoi, Kayo, Yoshimura, Masahiro, Hirota, Kiichi, Kinoshita, Hidefumi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 29.03.2022; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Care and treatment; Cell metabolism; Extracellular flux analysis; Health aspects; Human spermatozoa; Humans; Infertility; Infertility, Male; Laboratories; Male; Male infertility; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Metabolism; Mitochondria; Mitochondria - metabolism; Mitochondrial function; Motility; Oxygen - metabolism; Oxygen Consumption; Physiological aspects; Research Note; Respiration; Sensors; Sperm; Sperm Motility; Spermatozoa; Variance analysis; Japan; United States > US; Mitochondrial function; Sperm; Extracellular flux analysis; Male infertility; Human spermatozoa
• ISSN: 1756-0500; 1756-0500
• DOI: 10.1186/s13104-022-06012-4

We aimed to establish a novel sperm quality evaluation technology by measuring mitochondrial oxygen metabolism in human spermatozoa. Normozoospermic human sperm samples were used. After establishing the optimal parameters for measuring the oxygen metabolism of human sperm cells using the extracellular flux analyzer, we measured the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of human spermatozoa exposed to different storage temperatures. Although sperm motility was significantly lower at 4 °C when compared with sperm motility at 37 °C, there were no significant differences in sperm vitality and the OCR under both conditions. The present study established a methodology for human sperm quality evaluation using extracellular flux analysis technology. The OCR evaluation could be a reliable measurement tool for assessing human sperm quality.