Pooled sequential ejaculates: A way to increase the total number of motile sperm from oligozoospermic men

We investigated the yield of total number of motile spermatozoa from oligozoospermic men by pooling two closely spaced sequential ejaculates. Semen characteristics were compared between sequential ejaculates (within a period of 1 to 4 hours) of 18 oligozoospermic males (sperm concentration <20 X 10⁶/mL and total sperm count <40 X 10⁶ in the ejaculate) and a control group of 16 normozoospermic men. Whereas the median total number of motile sperm of normozoospermic males significantly decreased from 70 X 10⁶ in the first ejaculate to 23 X 10⁶ in the second sequential ejaculate, such a decrease was not detected in oligozoospermic males, 3.6 X 10⁶ and 3.1 X 10⁶, respectively. The percent of normozoospermic and oligozoospermic men who demonstrated a decreased (<50%), a comparable (50% to 150%), or an increased (>150%) total motile sperm count in the second ejaculate in comparison with the first ejaculate were 69%, 31%, and 0 versus 39%, 28%, and 33%, respectively. Consequently, pooling of two sequential ejaculates significantly increased the median total number of motile sperm from normozoospermic males by 144% and from oligozoospermic males by 329%, (to 10.2 X 10⁶). We suggest that pooling of two sequential ejaculates from oligozoospermic males is a simple and cost effective method to increase significantly the total number of motile sperm for intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization, gamete intrafallopian transfer, or semen cryopreservation.