Sex Lubricants

Clinical Study for Sex Lubricants

Fertil Steril. 2008 Feb;89(2):375-9. Epub 2007 May 16.

Effect of vaginal lubricants on sperm motility and chromatin integrity: a prospective comparative study.
Agarwal A, Deepinder F, Cocuzza M, Short RA, Evenson DP.

Reproductive Research Center, Glickman Urological Institute and Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. agarwaa@ccf.org

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of vaginal lubricants Pre-Seed, FemGlide, Astroglide, and Replens on human sperm motility and chromatin integrity. DESIGN: Prospective, comparative, in vitro study. SETTING: Andrology laboratory at tertiary care hospital. PATIENT(S): Thirteen normozoospermic donors. INTERVENTION(S): Semen samples from 13 subjects were incubated in human tubal fluid media (HTF) controls and 10% (vol/vol) of Pre-Seed, FemGlide, Astroglide, and Replens lubricants. After 30 minutes, progressive sperm motility was assessed by light microscopy. Semen samples of 12 patients were placed in positive control (HTF), negative control (10% K-Y Jelly lubricant), and 10% vol/vol Pre-Seed and FemGlide lubricants. After 4 hours culture, spermatozoa were analyzed for percent DNA fragmentation index with use of the acridine orange-based sperm chromatin structure assay. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Sperm motility and percent DNA fragmentation index. RESULTS: Percent motility did not differ significantly between HTF controls and Pre-Seed, whereas FemGlide, Replens, and Astroglide lubricants demonstrated a significant decrease in motility. There was no significant difference in percent DNA fragmentation index between the HTF controls and Pre-Seed, but a significant decline in sperm chromatin quality occurred with FemGlide and K-Y Jelly. CONCLUSION: Pre-Seed does not cause a significant decrease in progressive sperm motility or chromatin integrity in contrast to other lubricants used by couples.

PMID: 17509584 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]