Choice of vaginal lubricant may affect sperm motility

When it comes to effects on sperm motility or chromatin integrity, the choice of vaginal lubricant appears to make a difference, researchers reported in Fertility & Sterility (2008; 89:375-9).

In the prospective in vitro study, semen samples from 13 normozoospermic donors were incubated in human tubal fluid media controls and 10% (vol/vol) of four lubricants: Pre~Seed (INGfertility, Valleyford, WA), FemGlide (Wal-Med, Puyallup, WA), Astroglide (BioFilm, Vista, CA), and Replens (LDS Consumer Products, Cedar Rapids, IA). After 30 minutes, progressive sperm motility was assessed by light microscopy. Semen samples of 12 patients were placed in positive control (human thromboplastin factor [HTF]), negative control (10% K-Y Jelly [Personal Products Co., Skillman, NJ] lubricant), and 10% vol/vol Pre~Seed and FemGlide lubricants, cultured and analyzed for percent DNA fragmentation index with use of the acridine orange-based sperm chromatin structure assay.

Percent motility did not differ significantly between HTF controls and Pre~Seed, whereas the other lubricants demonstrated a significant decrease in motility, according to lead author Ashok Agarwal, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic. No significant difference in percent DNA fragmentation index was reported between the HTF controls and Pre~Seed, but a significant decline in sperm chromatin quality occurred with FemGlide and K-Y Jelly.