Comparison of zeta potential and ha-binding (PICSI) method in the selection of mature, good quality sperm

This study was aimed to compare two sperm preparation techniques zeta potential vs. HA based PICSI in terms of motility, morphology and DNA fragmentation. Study was performed in 42 semen samples from men with suspected infertility. Both techniques were used in each sample and evaluated % of motility, % of morphology and % of DNA fragmentation. Mean % of motility, morphology and DNA fragmentation were 73.31, 78.44, and 75.91 with standard deviation of 6.35, 7.31, and 9.21 respectively with Zeta potential. The PICSI yielded the values of 78.88, 78.77 and 80.2 with standard deviation of 5.19, 6.74, and 8.42 respectively. Wilcoxon signed ranked test showed significant difference in the results of motility, morphology and DNA fragmentation with p-values less than 0.05. The Zeta potential was found to be better in terms of DNA fragmentation but PICSI yielded better results in motility and morphology. This study results showed that Zeta potential is an effective method to select mature sperms with acceptable motility, morphology and less DNA fragmentation. So Zeta potential is comparable to PICSI and it is less time consuming, economic and can be used for all normal semen samples especially with suspected high oxidative stress.