The Effects of Calligonum Extract and Low-intensity Ultrasound on Motility, Viability, and DNA Fragmentation of Human Frozen-Thawed Semen

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the impact of Calligonum extract and US radiation on sperm parametersof cryopreserved human semen samples.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, twenty-five semen specimens were obtained from healthy semendonors and incubated in human tubal fluid (HTF) medium supplemented with 10% human serum albumin (HSA) for45 minutes. Samples were treated with Calligonum extract (10 μg/ml) alone (CGM group) and US radiation (LIPUSexposedgroup) alone or a combination of both treatments (CGM+LIPUS). The US group received US stimulation (inboth continuous and pulsed wave modes) at a frequency of 1 MHZ and intensity of 200 mW/cm2 for 200 seconds.Sperm morphology was assessed by Diff-Quik staining. The DNA fragmentation was evaluated the Halo sperm kit.Sperm parameters was analyzed by a computer-assisted semen analysis system. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) wasassessed by flow cytometry.Results: The results showed that the treatment with Calligonum extract significantly (P<0.05) increased the progressivemotility of spermatozoa in the CGM group as compared with the control group. The application of low-intensityUS significantly (P<0.05) decreased the motility and viability of spermatozoa in the US group when compared with thecontrol group. Our findings also indicated that the use of both low-intensity US in continuous mode and Calligonum extractslightly increased progressive motility; however, such an increase was not statistically significant. The rate of DNAfragmentation was considerably higher (P<0.05) in control and LIPUS-exposed groups than the other groups.Conclusion: Treatment of spermatozoa with Calligonum extract slightly improved the sperm parameters due to itsantioxidant activity, on the other hand, according to our results, US radiation did not improve sperm parameters whichmay be due to interference with the motility of sperm, as well as its physical effects on spermatozoa.