Abstract

Background: Oxidative stress in teratozoospermic semen samples caused poor assisted reproductive techniques (ART) outcomes. Among antioxidants, ascorbic acid is a naturally occurring free radical scavenger and as such its presence assists various other mechanisms in decreasing numerous disruptive free radical processes. Objective: The main goal of this study was to evaluate potential protective effects of ascorbic acid supplementation during in vitro culture of teratozoospermic specimens. Materials and Methods: Teratozoospermic semen samples that collected from 15 volunteers were processed, centrifuged and incubated at 37°C until sperm swimmed-up. Supernatant was divided into four groups and incubated at 37°C for one hour under different experimental conditions: Control, 10 μm A23187, 600μm ascorbic acid and 10 μm A23187+600 μm ascorbic acid. After incubation sperm motility, viability, acrosome reaction, DNA damage and malondialdehyde levels were evaluated. Results: Our results indicated that after one hour incubation, ascorbic acid significantly reduced malondialdehyde level in ascorbic acid group (1.4±0.11 nmol/ml) compared to control group (1.58±0.13 nmol/ml) (p<0.001). At the end of incubation, progressive motility and viability in ascorbic acid group (64.5±8.8 and 80.3±6.4, respectively) were significantly (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively) higher than the control group (54.5±6.8 and 70.9±7.3, respectively). A23187 significantly (p<0.0001) increased acrosome reaction in A23187 group (37.3±5.6) compared to control group (8.5±3.2) and this effect of A23187 attenuated by ascorbic acid in ascorbic acid+A23187 group (17.2±4.4). DNA fragmentation in ascorbic acid group (20±4.1) was significantly (p<0.001) lower than controls (28.9±4.6). Conclusion: In vitro ascorbic acid supplementation during teratozoospermic semen processing for ART could protect teratozoospermic specimens against oxidative stress, and it could improve ART outcome. © 2014, Research and Clinical Center for Infertitlity. All rights reserved.