JBRA Assisted Reproduction 2025;29(Suppl.2 SBRA 2025):186
Poster Presentation
29th Annual Congress of the SBRA. São Paulo/SP - Brazil, 2025
doi: 10.5935/1518-0557.20263900
P-174. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) positively affects long term sperm progressive motility and DNA fragmentation rate in processed semen samples
Adriana Bos-Mikich1, Gabriella Mamede Andrade2, Norma P Oliveira2, Giovanna Gonçalves2, Carina Saviello3, Fernanda I Iglesias3, Nilo Frantz2
1 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - Porto Alegre - RS – Brasil
2 Nilo Frantz Medicina Reprodutiva - Porto Alegre - RS - Brasil
3 RDO Diagnósticos Médicos - São Paulo - São Paulo - Brasil
Objective: This study aims to verify the impact of Platelet Rich Plasma on sperm progressive motility and DNA integrity, after 2 and 4 hours culture.
Methods: A total of 16 semen samples were donated from men attending a fertility clinic. After processing by density gradient (Isolate®) the final pellet was diluted in 500mL MHM supplemented with 10% SSS and accessed for progressive motility and DNA fragmentation. 500 µl of the final semen preparation was taken twice and placed into two centrifuge tubes containing PRP and left in culture, for 2 and 4 hours, at room temperature. The remaining sperm material in the tube was left undisturbed under the same conditions. PRP was obtained from a sample of patients' blood (35 ml) drawn with the addition of anticoagulant. After "soft" spin centrifugation (1500 rpm), the supernatant was transferred to another tube with 0.2 mg/ ml gentamicin and centrifuged at a higher speed (2300 rpm). The supernatant was removed, leaving 2 ml at the bottom of the tube to suspend the platelet pellet. A fraction of the final PRP preparation was saved for platelet counts. A total of 25 µl of the final PRP preparation was added to the tubes containing 500 µl of sperm preparation, for a final platelet concentration of 5%. Quantitative variables were analyzed by the Shapiro Wilk test of normality and described by means and standard deviation in presence of normal distribution and median distribution, minimum and maximum values, in case of asymmetry. Quantitative variables comparisons were performed between treatment and controls and inside groups by Wilcoxon test. Correlation between variables was performed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. A significance level of 5% was considered statistically significant.
Results: Total sperm motility was significantly higher after 2 hrs (p=0.001) and 4 hrs (p=0.010) of culture in presence of PRP compared with controls without PRP. Progressive motility (PM) was significantly higher in presence of PRP at 2 hrs (p=0.001) and at 4 hrs culture (p=0.007), compared with controls. Particularly sperm motility grade A showed a significant increase in PRP after 2 hrs (p=0.002) and 4hrs (p=0.001) compared to controls. Immotile sperm counts were significantly lower after 2 hrs (p= 0.001) and 4hrs (p= 0.01) culture in presence of PRP, when compared with culture without PRP. There was no significant difference in sperm concentration among groups. No significant correlation between platelet concentration and the increment in progressive motility was observed in sperm samples cultured in presence of PRP for 2 hrs (r=0.08, p=0.782) or 4 hrs (r=0.31 p=0.250). Regarding the sperm DNA fragmentation index (SDFi) there was no difference in median values between the raw and processed samples (p=0.535). After 2 hrs culture in presence of PRP, SDFi median value was 8%, a significant decrease in SDFi compared with the processed sample (p=0.016). After 4 hrs in culture in presence of PRP, SDFi median value was 9% with no significant difference compared with SDFi value post-centrifugation (p=0.073). There was no significant difference in SDFi values between the two PRP groups, 2 hrs and 4 hrs culture (p=0.113).
Conclusion: PRP increases PM after 2 hrs and 4 hrs culture and decreases SDFi, key factors for successful ART procedures. There is no relationship between platelet concentration in PRP and its positive effects on sperm PM and SDFi. These findings highlight the use of PRP for low and high complexity Assisted Reproduction procedures.