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| Sperm Washing | Sperm washing is the term, which is applied in order to describe the process of preparing a semen sample for an artificial insemination. For an artificial insemination conducting, the semen sample is to be washed free of any debris, prostaglandins and white blood cells, which may possibly cause the contractions of uterus. During the sperm washing process, dead sperm are removed, and the sperm concentrates into a small volume, which is handled by the uterus easily. There are three possible ways of sperm washing: the Swim – Up, Discontinuous (Density) Gradient Wash and Simple Wash, which is also called the centrifugation wash. The way of sperm wash, which is necessary to be applied, depends mostly on the individual characteristics of every single sperm specimen.
Swim – Up
This method of sperm wash is considered to be most successful, in case if it is performed on patients, whose semen analysis is normal, and it is not recommended for samples of high viscosity, with high numbers of round cells, or with a high content of debris.
The very procedure is conducted by placing the washing media over the semen in a tube of a conical form. After that the specimen is placed into an incubator for about one hour, or so. During this time the sperm are allowed to swim up into the media, so that most motile, free of debris sperm would be collected. After the supernatant is collected, it is centrifuged two times with a special sperm washing media. And, finally, the sperm is re - suspended in about 0.5 mls of media. In order to process the sample, it is necessary to use modified sperm washing media.
Discontinuous (Density) Gradient Wash
As a rule this method of sperm wash is applied on sperm samples, which contain debris, round cells, and on those ones, with increased viscosity, but which have relatively normal concentration and motility. The gradient is possible to achieve by layering media of two different densities in a tube of a conical form. After that the sperm semen is placed on top of the gradient, and the tube is spun in order to let the specimen proceed through the gradient. The pellet, which appears in the result of this process, is to contain the most motile and normal sperm, and all dead sperm and debris get caught up in the gradient media. Then the pellet is re - suspended into a washing media and it is centrifuged two times. At last, the pellet, which occurs in the result of it, is re - suspended into a final volume of about 0.5 mls of media.
Simple Wash
As a rule the simple wash is performed on a sample, which possesses somewhat decreased concentration and / or motility. A sperm sample, containing round cells and debris is not possible to be prepared with the help of this method of sperm washing. Anyway, during this process, sperm washing media is added to the specimen and then centrifuged. The resulting pellet is recovered, re – suspended and centrifuged one more time. At last, the final pellet is re – suspended in about 0.5 mls of media.
It should also be pointed out, that in every of the above mentioned cases, the laboratory is to perform an analysis of fresh specimen as well as of washed ones. The analysis includes the assessment of the sperm count, volume, motility, viscosity, etc.
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