Abstract
Physicochemical properties of water molecules as the main compositions of the freezing media can be affected by the electromagnetic fled. The purpose of this study was to apply extremely low repetition rate electromagnetic fields (ELEFs) to change the molecular network of water molecules existing in freezing media used for human sperm cryopreservation. First, different time periods and pulsed electromagnetic fields were used to evaluate the physiochemical properties of water. The lowest rate of cluster size, surface tension, viscosity, and density was observed for water samples exposed to 1000 Hz ELEF for 60 min (P < 0.05) that could be results in small ice crystal formation. Therefore, this treatment was selected for further evaluations in human sperm freezing because there was minimal probability of amorphous ice crystallization in this group. To assess fertilizing potential, human semen samples were subjected to ELEF (1000 Hz) water-made freezing medium and cryopreserved. The highest percentage of total motility, progressive motility, viability, membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential, DNA integrity, and TAC were obtained in frozen ELEF as compared to other groups. The percentage of viable spermatozoa (Annexin V-/PI-) in frozen ELEF was significantly higher than in frozen control. The level of ROS was significantly lower in frozen ELEF when compared to frozen control. It can be concluded that the modification of physicochemical properties of water existing in cryopreservation media by ELEF is a suitable strategy to improve the outcome of cryopreservation.
Highlights
The cryopreservation of living cells and tissues in the world of biotechnology has been developed tremendously because this process allows the recovery of large populations of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells at very low temperatures [1, 2]
This phenomenon is mostly related to sudden disruption of water molecule structures in cryopreservation media that can induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which, in turn, attacks to the sperm membrane and damage the sperm organelles resulting in sperm death [6, 7]
It has been reported that physicochemical characteristics of water, including surface tension, viscosity, density, and light distribution characteristics can affected by the external factors such as different solutes, electrical, magnetic and electromagnetic fields, and temperature [9,10,11,12]
Summary
The cryopreservation of living cells and tissues in the world of biotechnology has been developed tremendously because this process allows the recovery of large populations of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells at very low temperatures [1, 2]. Despite several advantages of this strategy, structural and biochemical damages caused by this process to sperm are the main challenge and drawback [4, 5] which lead to reduce the fertilizing potential of thawed sperm. This phenomenon is mostly related to sudden disruption of water molecule structures in cryopreservation media that can induce the production of ROS which, in turn, attacks to the sperm membrane and damage the sperm organelles resulting in sperm death [6, 7]. It has been reported that physicochemical characteristics of water, including surface tension, viscosity, density, and light distribution characteristics can affected by the external factors such as different solutes, electrical, magnetic and electromagnetic fields, and temperature [9,10,11,12]
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