How To Determine Healthy Sperm
The scientists have successfully created a simple test method to distinguish healthy sperm with the sperm has damaged DNA. The accuracy of this test is claimed to reach 99 percent.
The test method uses a chemical compound found in human egg cell membrane, called hyaluronic acid. This method has been approved by the FDA (U.S. food and drug agency) and can increase the chances of fertilization in vitro up to 30 percent.
Usually the male fertility test methods focus only on the number of the sperm and how it moves. Whereas, according to Gabor Huszar, senior researcher at Yale Medical School, in the process of natural conception, the egg and sperm are together to form structures called receptors on the surface that are essential for successful adhesion. "The egg and sperm choose each other," said Huszar. However, in vitro fertilization method, doctors would choose to inject a single sperm cell and sperm cells in the egg cell under the microscope.
If the test only focus on the number and sperm movement, it would be difficult for doctors to know which sperm have a greater chance to fertilize the egg cells or to determine which sperm DNA was good. Besides, if they chose a low-quality sperm, many couples could be at risk of miscarriage or developmental disorders in the fetus.
Huszar and his team managed to find a way to distinguish the quality of sperm cells use a compound called hyaluronic acid. This acid is a very important component in the membrane around the egg and sperm to get there, though not entirely successful. In tests using hyaluronic acid on sperm from 50 men, it's very clear the color differences between the superior quality sperm from the bad. Good sperm attached to the hyaluronic acid and are naturally selected by the egg cell.
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