Comparison of zeta potential and physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection in obtaining sperms with a lower DNA fragmentation index: A cross-sectional study

The sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) is one of the men's reproductive health criteria that affects assisted reproductive technique outcomes. Efforts in obtaining high-quality mature sperms seem to be necessary. Advanced sperm selection techniques (including physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection [PICSI], zeta potential, microfluidic, etc.) have gained popularity in this regard.

The study aimed to compare the efficacy of zeta potential and PICSI sperm selection in obtaining sperms with better DNA integrity.

In this cross-sectional study, 48 couples were enrolled where the male partner had increased sperm DFI in his ejaculated sample and the female was in normal reproductive health. For each male partner, the semen sample was processed with zeta potential and PICSI techniques, then the sperm DFI of neat semen was compared to zeta and PICSI samples by the sperm chromatin dispersion test.

Data showed that both the zeta potential and PICSI technique decreased sperm DFI in comparison with the neat semen sample (p < 0.001 for both). In addition, there was a statistically significant difference in sperm DFI between the PICSI and zeta potential samples (p < 0.01).

The current study showed that both zeta potential and PICSI could result in sperm with a lower DFI. However, PICSI seems to be superior to zeta potential in this regard.