Abstract
The effectiveness of three amino acids, glutamine, proline, and histidine, and one amino acid-related compound, betaine, in preserving human sperm diluted v/v in a basal medium (BM) containing 14% glycerol during the freeze–thaw (FT) process was studied. At 80 mMin BM, only glutamine improved the 5- to 60-min postthaw total and progressive motilities and velocity. The presence of glutamine at 80 mMis not sufficient to achieve lower concentrations of the toxic agent glycerol in FT medium. Glutamine may therefore have a mechanism of protection on human spermatozoa that is independent from that of glycerol. The zona-free hamster egg penetration test showed that the percentage of eggs penetrated was significantly greater when spermatozoa were frozen–thawed with 80 mMglutamine in BM. Consequently, the presence of glutamine at 80 mMin a glycerol–FT medium maintains human sperm motility and fertilizing ability during the FT process.
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