JBRA Assist. Reprod. 2025;29(Suppl 1):37-37
POSTER PRESENTATION
doi: 10.5935/1518-0557.20250091
1CREAVITA (Lima, Peru)
Objective: The objective of this study is to compare whether the Swim-up technique without centrifugation for sperm concentration is more effective than the Density Gradient technique in selecting sperm without DNA fragmentation in patients undergoing fertility treatment.
Methods: A prospective study was conducted with 33 semen samples between February and March 2025. Each initial sample was assessed for sperm concentration per milliliter, progressive motility, and DNA fragmentation using the Sperm Chromatin Dispersion test (SCD). Each sample was separated into two 1-ml aliquots. One aliquot was processed using the swim-up sperm preparation technique without centrifugation, and the other was processed using the density gradients technique. DNA fragmentation tests were then performed on both prepared samples.
Results: The results are shown as the sperm DNA fragmentation index (SDI, %). Our results show a median SDI of 16.96% for the native sample, 15.95% after density gradient preparation, and 11.11% after swim-up preparation. A significant difference was found between the SDI of the native sample and the swim-up sample. No significant difference was found between the SDI of the swim-up and density gradient preparations. Regarding sperm recovery, there was a significant difference between the two techniques; a median of 7,000,000 sperm recovered after density gradient preparation and 1,650,000 sperm recovered for swimup preparation.
Conclusion: The Swim-up technique without centrifugation is more effective than the Density Gradient technique for recovering sperm without fragmented DNA. However, the amount of sperm recovered by Swim-up is significantly lower than the quantity obtained by Density Gradients.