Effect of short abstinence time on sperm motility parameters

Effect of short abstinence time on sperm motility parameters

H. Alipour, F. Dardmeh, G. Van Der Horst, G. Manoharan, A. Askeland, H.I. Nielsen

Laboratory of Reproductive Biomedicine, Biomedicine group, Dept. of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark; Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape town, South Africa

The importance of establishing an optimal period of sexual abstinence has been an area of focus due to its influence on sperm quality. The ”WHO laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen” suggests an ejaculatory abstinence of 2-7 days before sperm collection. Several previous studies have evaluated the effect of abstinence period on sperm motility and presented controversial results, making the WHO recommendation debatable. However, no study to date has assessed the effect of a short (2 hours) abstinence period on sperm quality. The present study compared the sperm motility (as a biomarker of sperm quality) of samples collected after 2-7 days of abstinence with a consecutive ejaculation after 2 hours. The neat samples were analysed using the Sperm Class Analyzer (Microptic S.L., Spain) computer assisted sperm analysing system. The results displayed a significant increase in the ratio of progressively motile spermatozoa and a significant decrease in the percentage of immotile sperm after 2-hours of abstinence compared to a 2-7 day abstinence period.
Based on the results of this study, decreasing the abstinence time to as low as 2 hours could provide a better chance for the treatment of patients with male factor infertility. Further investigation is still required in order to compare the effect of abstinence time on additional sperm quality parameters.