The use of an electric freezer in human semen banking.

The use of an electric freezer for cryostorage of human semen is described. A simple method for semen freezing in liquid nitrogen after dilution with 7.5% glycerol was used. Thawing for quality analysis revealed only a small decrease (10%) in post-thaw sperm motility (59 +/- 1.4 vs. 53 +/- 1.8%; mean +/- SE, n = 12, P less than 10(-5)) and 14% in post-thaw sperm vitality (85.0 +/- 1.3 vs. 72.9 +/- 1.8%). After the freezing process, the samples, three of each donor, were cryopreserved in a regular electric freezer which maintained temperatures in the range of -85 degrees C (+/- 2 degrees C). The samples were stored for 1 week, 2 and 6 months, thawed and then assayed for motility and vitality. No effect of storage was found for a period up to 2 months. An additional decrease of 17.2% in sperm motility and 18% in sperm vitality were noted only after 6 months of preservation. The final motility and vitality rates of these sperm samples were 44 +/- 2.4 and 60 +/- 3.0%, respectively. According to these results, in cases of sperm storage for limited periods, it is recommended to cryopreserve human semen by the use of a combination of freezing in liquid nitrogen and storage of the samples in an electric freezer at -85 degrees C.