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Protective effects of l-carnitine on astheno- and normozoospermic human semen samples during cryopreservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2015

Wei Zhang ,
Feng Li ,
Haifeng Cao ,
Chuyan Li ,
Congqi Du ,
Lingnv Yao ,
Huan Mao  and
Wenqin Lin
Wei Zhang
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Feng Li
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 4th Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China.
Haifeng Cao
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Chuyan Li
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Congqi Du
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Lingnv Yao
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Huan Mao
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Wenqin Lin*
Affiliation:
The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
*
All correspondence to: Wenqin Lin. The Reproductive Medicine Center, 1st Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Tel: +86 571 8723 5028. FAX: +86 571 8723 5028. E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

This study was conducted to determine the effects of l-carnitine (LC), as an antioxidant, in preventing spermatozoa damage during the freezing–thawing process in both astheno- and normozoospermic human semen samples. Seventy semen samples (37 asthenozoospermic and 33 normozoospermic) were involved in this study. Cryopreservation medium supplemented with 1.0 g/l LC was mixed with semen at a ratio of 1:1 (v/v). Controls were cryopreserved with freezing medium only. Assessment of motility, viability (VIA), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and DNA fragmentation index (DFI) were performed on aliquots of fresh semen, frozen–thawed control and frozen–thawed LC treated samples. Supplementation of the cryopreservation medium with LC induced a significant improvement in post-thaw sperm parameters in both the asthenozoospermic and normozoospermic semen samples, compared with those of the control, regarding sperm fast forward motility, forward motility, total motility and VIA. LC showed better protective effects towards asthenozoospermia for DFI (F = 115.85, P < 0.01) and VIA (F = 67.14, P < 0.01) than did normozoospermic semen samples. We conclude that supplementation with LC prior to the cryopreservation process reduced spermatozoa cryodamage in both asthenozoospermic and normozoospermic semen samples. LC had better protective effects for asthenozoospermic human semen samples. Future research should focus on the molecular mechanism for and the different protective effects of LC between asthenozoospermic and normozoospermic semen samples during cryopreservation.

Keywords

Asthenozoospermial-CarnitineCryopreservationReactive oxygen speciesReproductive technology
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 293 - 300
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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