Increasing viability, numbers, and motility of sperm in men with normal spermatogenesis exposed to saffron extract after freezing- thawing process

Background: Sperm freezing method is used frequently in assisted reproductive techniques, on the other hand in different studies negative effect of freezing have been shown on different sperm parameters. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of saffron extract as an antioxidant, on the different sperm parameters in men with normal spermatogenesis after freezing-thawing process. Methods: In this case-control study, collecting of samples was done in 2015 year from the Infertility Treatment Center, ACECR Branch of Qazvin, Qazvin, Iran. These men had normal spermatogenesis and their spouse had infertility problem. Semen samples was divided in two groups, control without saffron extract, and case with 50 mg/ml saffron extract. Then, samples freezed with snap freezing method. After two weeks, they were thawed and different sperm parameters were assessed. Data were analyzed by two-tail T test. Findings: Our results showed, mean percent of viability (72±0.99), motility (87±0.43), and the number of sperm cells (62.5±3.8) in treaded group was elevated significantly (P<0.01) compared to the control group (46.6±1.1), (62.3±0.33), and (45±4.3) respectively. However, about the morphology we don’t observed significant difference (P>0.05).   Conclusion: Our results showed that possibly antioxidant agents of saffron extract could scavenge free radicals and thus, optimize different sperm parameters (viability, motility, and number) after freezing and thawing.