Volume 110, Issue 6 pp. 1391-1399
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Lower reactive oxygen species production and faster swimming speed of human sperm cells on nanodiamond spin-coated glass substrates

Ali Lesani

Ali Lesani

Small Medical Devices, BioMEMS & LoC Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

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Iman Ramazani Sarbandi

Iman Ramazani Sarbandi

Small Medical Devices, BioMEMS & LoC Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

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Hengameh Mousavi

Hengameh Mousavi

Faculty of Physics, Nano Science and Technology, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran

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Somaieh Kazemnejad

Somaieh Kazemnejad

Nanobiotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

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Mahdi Moghimi Zand

Corresponding Author

Mahdi Moghimi Zand

Small Medical Devices, BioMEMS & LoC Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Correspondence

Mahdi Moghimi Zand, Small Medical Devices, BioMEMS & LoC Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Postal Code 14399-55961, Tehran, Iran.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 26 January 2022
Citations: 1

Abstract

The sperm selection stage is what assisted reproductive technologies have in common and is crucial as it affects the success of the treatment cycle. The employment of microfluidic platforms for sperm selection has emerged showing promising results. In microfluidic platforms, sperm cells encounter micro-confined environments meanwhile having contact with channel walls and surfaces. Modification of contact surfaces using nanoparticles leads to the alteration of surface characteristics which in turn affects sperm behavior especially motility which is an indicator for sperm health. In this article, we present the results of investigating the motility parameters of sperm cells in contact with surface-modified glass substrates using nanodiamond particles. The results show that the sperm swimming velocities are significantly improved within the range of 12%–52% compared to the control surface (untreated). Reactive oxygen species production is also decreased by 14% justifying the increase in swimming speed. Taken together, bonding these modified surfaces to sperm selection microfluidic devices could enhance their efficiency and further improve their outcomes offering new solutions to patients facing infertility.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings can be obtained by emailing the corresponding author.

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