Anyone do a Sperm Penetration Assay? + morphology talk

[Swimming]

Hi everyone!

I'm wondering if anyone here has had a sperm penetration assay, that I guess uses hampster eggs to see if sperm can penetrate the egg?

My husband has a major morphology problem, and even though some REs (including mine) believe his high count & motility compensates.... there is some research that indicates if so many sperm are abnormal, even the normal sperm's ability to fertilize is suspect as well.

I'm thinking of requesting this test, but would like to know information on how much it costs? We are out of pocket.

If anyone has insight into morphology problems, please either post here or PM me. Feeling a little alone

Thanks guys!

 

[lisap2008]

Have you tried supplements for increasing his morphology? pycnogenal, arginine and CoQ10 are good studies show improvements after men were on the supplements for 3 months, from what I have seen the poor morphology sperm tend to swim in circles and would never really reach the egg ,the normal sperm should be able to but if there is a very slim number of normal sperm then this would affect the ability to get pregnant naturally also if a large number of abnormal sperm are causing a crowding problem this makes it more difficult for the normal sperm to have a path to the egg for instance think of trying to get out of a crowded event and everyone trying to leave at the same time .The sperm penetration essay ranges around $700.00 depending on the lab, This test checks the sperms ability to penetrate specially prepared hamster eggs and can reveal if sperm are unable to undergo the changes necessary for fertilization.

 

[Swimming]

Wow, I've done a lot of research but seemed overwhelming to narrow down specific supplements. Your post really helped me out! He's taking like fertile aid and arginine, I will perhaps switch him to the arginine plus COQ10 and pycnogenal.

When we went in for our IUI, the nurse said his sperm were moving forward and not circling... I wonder if there are different types of abnormal sperm. I have this idea that the abnormal sperm are just like fast and block the good guys.

Thank you also for the explanation of the penetration test! Gives me lots to think about

 

[lisap2008]

Well there are different poor morphology /abnormal sperm if that make since, some with bent tails or double tails and some with abnormal shaped heads or double heads , if the tail is abnormal they wont swim in a progressive way. I would not take him off the multi vitamins he is already taking but I would add the coq10 and pycnogenol (pinebark extract) I believe the fertile aid already has l arginine in it though ?.

 

[Swimming]

Well there are different poor morphology /abnormal sperm if that make since, some with bent tails or double tails and some with abnormal shaped heads or double heads , if the tail is abnormal they wont swim in a progressive way. I would not take him off the multi vitamins he is already taking but I would add the coq10 and pycnogenol (pinebark extract) I believe the fertile aid already has l arginine in it though ?.

Yes it does. One thing I didn't mention is my husband has high B6 in his blood, and it causes him headaches. So we alternate days of fertile aid + other supplements.

That makes sense about the different types of abnormal sperm, I've read about the analysis that differentiate types of tail/midpiece/head abnormalities... our SA didn't provide that info.

Is anyone else going through this right now?

 

[BelleNuit]

Hey, my husband has a bit of a morphology problem (10% normal... which I know isn't super severe but we've also never been pregnant so I do wonder if that is part of the problem). He's also one of those guys with great count and great motility so you'd think that should offset some of the morphology issues?? I dunno. We're unexplained and don't want to undergo further testing to find out what might be going on with us. I wonder if he might have a dna fragmentation issue. I don't know if that would go along with morphology or not?