Asian Journal of Andrology (Sep 2024)

Scriptaid is a prospective agent for improving human asthenozoospermic sample quality and fertilization rate in vitro

  • Yi-Ting Yang,
  • Bin Yan,
  • Li-Na Guo,
  • Miao Liu,
  • Yu-Hua Li,
  • Zhi-Yu Shao,
  • Hua Diao,
  • Su-Ying Liu,
  • He-Guo Yu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/aja202416
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 5
pp. 490 – 499

Abstract

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Male infertility is a global issue caused by poor sperm quality, particularly motility. Enhancement of the sperm quality may improve the fertilization rate in assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment. Scriptaid, with a novel human sperm motility-stimulating activity, has been investigated as a prospective agent for improving sperm quality and fertilization rate in ART. We evaluated the effects of Scriptaid on asthenozoospermic (AZS) semen, including its impact on motility stimulation and protective effects on cryopreservation and duration of motility, by computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA). Sperm quality improvement by Scriptaid was characterized by increased hyaluronan-binding activity, tyrosine phosphorylation, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration, mitochondrial membrane potential, and an ameliorated AZS fertilization rate in clinical intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) experiments. Furthermore, our identification of active Scriptaid analogs and different metabolites induced by Scriptaid in spermatozoa lays a solid foundation for the future biomechanical exploration of sperm function. In summary, Scriptaid is a potential candidate for the treatment of male infertility in vitro as it improves sperm quality, prolongs sperm viability, and increases the fertilization rate.

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