Influence of two commercially available lubricants on sperm motility and kinematics
H.I. Nielsen, F. Dardmeh, K. Kannik, A.B.K. Jeppesen, L. Søresen, M.B. Hjelm, H. Alipour
Department of Health Science and Technology, Biomedicine Group, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
The use of lubricants is occasionally requested during intercourse and semen collection for assisted reproduction techniques. This might pose a problem because several lubricants have been reported to decrease sperm functional parameters, especially in regards to sperm motility. This study aimed to examine the influence of 2 commercially available personal lubricants, a water-based (Apotekets Glid) and a silicone-based (Klick Silk Glide), on human sperm motility. Semen samples were divided into three equal parts and added to the two lubricant test groups (Sperm Preparation Medium + 10 % lubricant) and a control group containing only medium. A detailed analysis of motility and different kinematic parameters was performed using the Sperm Class Analyzer® computer-aided sperm analysis system at 0, 0.5, 1, and 3 hours on the control and test groups.
The silicone-based lubricant demonstrated no significant difference compared to the control group. The water-based lubricant, however, had significantly lower fast progressive motility, total progressive motility, curvilinear velocity, straight line velocity, average path velocity, lateral head displacement, beat cross frequency, and hyperactivation compared to the control.
The results of this study indicate that the Klick Silk Glide silicone-based lubricant is less detrimental for sperm in terms of motility and kinematic parameters which have been related to pregnancy rates. Therefore, it can be suggested that when trying to conceive, both naturally and artificially, the Klick Silk Glide lubricant could have lower adverse effects on the sperm motility parameters compared to the water-based Apotekets Glid lubricant.
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