honey supplementation to semen-freezing medium improveshuman sperm parameters post-thawing.

objective: to evaluate the effect of honey supplemented to cryoprotectant medium on post-thaw sperm motility, concentration, morphology and agglutination. materials and methods: thirty semen samples were collected from 30 infertile patients. after assessment of semen analysis, semen samples were divided into 3 aliquots (0.7ml for each) and mixed with 1 ml of cryopreservation solution (g1, control) alone, or enriched with 5% honey (g2) or with 10% honey (g3) for cryopreservation. cryopreservation was done at -196°c in liquid nitrogen and thawing was performed after six months. direct swim up technique was used for in vitro sperm preparation post-thawing. sperm parameters were assessed and data were statistically analyzed pre- and post-thawing. results: results appeared that the percentage of sperm motility for g1 and g2 groups were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) post-thawing when compared to pre-cryopreservation. however, there was no significant difference in the total motility (%) of the post-thaw sperm between the g1 and g2 groups. while there was significant increased (p < 0.05) in the percentage of normal sperm morphology for g1 and g3 groups post-thawing. post-thawing normal sperm morphology (%) for g3 group was significantly increased (p < 0.05) as compared to g1 and g2 groups. in contrast non significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between g1 and g2 groups. significant reduction (p < 0.05) was seen in the sperm concentration for all groups post-thawing as compared to pre-cryopreservation groups. after thawing the results reveal significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the sperm agglutination (%) for g3 group as compared to g1 and g2 groups. conclusion: the results of this study indicated that the supplementation of honey (10%) to cryoprotectant solution results in enhancement of sperm quality post-thawing.