Some vaginal lubricants may decrease motility of sperm.(Gynecology)

MONTREAL -- Three out of four commonly used vaginal lubricants caused significant decreases in sperm motility in a prospective, controlled study--and it appears that these and other lubricants can impact chromatin integrity as well, Ashok Agarwal, Ph.D., reported.

"Despite warnings by researchers, there is still great confusion among physicians and subfertile couples who are trying to conceive. These lubricants may impact the fertilization process and cause a failure of fertilization," he said at the joint annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society.

Of the approximately 11 million couples in the United States who are trying to conceive--6 million of whom have been trying for more than 1 year--an estimated 75% experience an increased incidence of vaginal dryness, Dr. Agarwal told this newspaper, referring in part to data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The researchers collected sperm either incubated at 37[degrees]C in human tubal fluid (HTF) media (the controls) or in 10% lubricant treatments made with the lubricant samples from normal donors and diluted these samples to 20-40 X 1[0.sup.6] / mL using HTF with 10% human serum albumin.

In one part of the study, sperm samples from 13 donors were either incubated at 37[degrees]C in HTF (the controls) or in 10% lubricant treatm es of culture, the mean percentage of progressively motile sperm differed significantly between the controls and three of the four lubricant groups.

Sperm exposed to FemGlide, for instance, were 22% less motile than sperm incubated in HTF.

There were even greater decreases in motility--an 89% decrease and a 60% decrease--in sperm exposed to Replens and Astroglide, respectively, compared with sperm in the control group, reported Dr. Agarwal, director of the Clinical Andrology Laboratory and Reproductive ...