Researchers from the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in India recently published a study in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics on the impact of choosing sperm bond to hyaluronic acid (HA) over sperm that did not bind to the acid on overall fertility. Sperm that binds to HA are considered more competent, but in cases where patients have unexplained fertility with normal sperm parameters, HA binding does not increase pregnancy rates.
A total of 156 couples took place in the study. All patients had enrolled for a round of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Only fresh embryo transfers were used in all patients. Patients were divided between the control group (ICSI) and HA-binding group (PICSI).
Conclusion: No differences were noted in pregnancy rates, fertilization rates or quality of embryos between the ICSI and PICSI groups. Live birth rates were also nearly identical with 22 live births in the PICSI group and 21 live births in the ICSI group. HA-binding does not appear to be an effective strategy for patients with unexplained infertility with normal sperm parameters.
Source: Majumdar G, Majumdar A. A prospective randomized study to evaluate the effect of hyaluronic acid sperm selection on the intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcome of patients with unexplained infertility having normal semen parameters. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2013 Oct 2.