Longevity of spermatozoa in the post-ejaculatory urine of fertile men

Abstract

Many scientists of varying clinical backgrounds have described the phenomenon of spermaturia in animals, adolescents as well as fertile and infertile men. Nevertheless, research for an expert opinion on a law case in the field of forensic medicine revealed a lack of valid information about the longevity of spermatozoa in post-ejaculatory urine (PEU) of fertile men. Our goal was to measure the appearance of vivid sperm in PEU while considering the factor of time in order to predict a realistic interval, in which positive sperm findings might occur. Therefore ten healthy, young men donated their sperm for fertility analysis and a urine sample prior to and after ejaculation. The time intervals between ejaculation and the first micturition were preset ranging between 30 min and maximal 11 h. Each ejaculate underwent a semen analysis. The pre- and post-ejaculatory urine samples were screened for the presence of viable and motile spermatozoa. Semen parameters were determined and related to the sperm findings in the precipitate of the urine samples. The amount, the viability and motility status of the detected spermatozoa were recorded after each preset time interval. The results showed that none of the 10 participants had sperm in their urine samples prior to ejaculation. The average sperm concentration was 50.1 ± 25.8 million/ml. After a time span of 30 min 59.5% of the first fractions of PEU samples were sperm positive, after 2 and 4 h still 70%, and after 5 h sperm were no longer detected. The last motile spermatozoa could be found after 4.5 h. It seems that remaining sperm in the urethra are washed out with the first micturition in the majority of fertile men, however, the conclusion as to whether sperm findings >5 h after ejaculation are improbable needs to be confirmed by further investigations.