Raymond W. Wright Jr, PhD. Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Objective: During human reproduction, motile sperm in the vagina must penetrate thru cervical mucus (CM) to reach the oocyte in the Fallopian tube. An isotonic fertility lubricant (Pre~Seed®, INGfertility, Spokane, WA) has been reported to not interfere with sperm motility, unlike traditional personal lubricants. Bovine and human CM share similar biophysical properties and are reported as equally useful for observing sperm-CM interactions in vitro. This study evaluated the impact of the fertility lubricant on sperm penetration into CM in vitro. Design: Prospective, controlled.Material and Methods: Cryopreserved, pooled estrus cow CM and bull sperm were used to minimize variation due to sperm or mucus donor. Sperm were washed and prepared in a Tyrode’s medium at 2 x 106 sperm/ml and placed in control (lubricant-free) wells or mixed with 10% v/v fertility lubricant. Capillary tubes were filled with thawed CM and sealed on one end. The open ends of the tubes were submerged (0.5 cm) into sperm treatment reservoirs in covered Petri dishes and humidified conditions at 37oC (ten tubes per treatment, replicated twice). After 2 hrs of culture, migration distances of the vanguard sperm (in mm) and sperm penetration densities (i.e., average number of sperm per field over 5 fields) at 1 and 4 cm were determined and analyzed using ANOVA. Results: Sperm penetration into CM was unaffected (p>0.05) by the presence of the fertility lubricant, as determined by both vanguard sperm distance and density of sperm at set distances. Data are mean (SD).

Conclusions: In this model, the fertility lubricant did not interfere with the ability of sperm to penetrate into cervical mucus columns in vitro, further supporting it as an appropriate choice for fertility patients.
Support: In part by INGfertility®