Assessment of the effectiveness of methods for the selection of sperm with increased DNA fragmentation in ART cycles

Abstract

Sperm DNA stability is significant in male infertility and favorable reproductive outcomes. Increased DNA fragmentation in spermatozoa can negatively affect the fertilization potential and the kinetics of embryo development. The study aimed to compare traditional and improved high-SDF sperm selection methods and evaluate their impact on the embryological parameters of ART programs.The study included 114 ICSI cycles that used different advanced approaches to sperm selection, including traditional ICSI (control group), magnetic-activated sperm selection, morphological ICSI, and physiological ICSI. The software GraphPad Prism 9.5.1 was used to perform the statistical analysis. The criterion for significance was established at a level of P≤0.05. According to the results, magnetic, physiological, and morphological selection did not increase the fertilization frequency (p=0.1020; p>0.9999; p>0.9999). Magnetic-activated selection of sperm increases the yield of good-quality blastocysts compared to the control group (p = 0.0222); this trend was not observed for physiological and magnetic selection (p > 0.9999; p > 0.9999). The formation of blastocysts of any quality did not exhibit any notable variations (p=0.4139; p>0.999; p>0.999). Among the strategies for selecting sperm with increased DNA fragmentation, magnetic selection is a priority approach for obtaining good-quality blastocysts.