Use of a sealed minichamber for direct observation and evaluation of the in vitro effect of cigarette smoke on sperm motility.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the in vitro effect of cigarette smoke on sperm motility and survival in an attempt to find a possible association with clinical studies that had pointed to the existence of such an effect in vivo.

DESIGN

Laboratory experiments in which the effect of cigarette smoke on human sperm placed in a sealed minichamber was directly observed and determined by motion analysis.

PATIENTS: High-quality fresh semen specimens were obtained from healthy donors and used for the experimental studies.

INTERVENTIONS: Various doses of filtered and nonfiltered cigarette smoke, collected by an improvised manual smoking machine, were streamed at a rate of 2 mL/s into sealed chambers containing samples of washed spermatozoa. Evaluation of the changes in sperm motility was performed in real time by direct microscopical observation and repeated determinations by the multiple exposure photography technique until their complete immobilization.

RESULTS

Streaming of 100 mL of cigarette smoke induced a dramatic drop in sperm motility, which caused sperm immobilization in about 15 minutes. This effect showed a clear dose-response relationship either with the amounts streamed or with the time during which sperm were exposed to cigarette smoke. The harmful effect was almost the same whether sperm were exposed to filtered or nonfiltered cigarette smoke. The role of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide on these findings was studied separately, and it was shown that the inhibitory effect was not due to the presence of these two important components of cigarette smoke.

CONCLUSIONS

The clear evidence of the in vitro harmful effect of crude cigarette smoke on sperm motility points to the possibility that in heavy smokers certain toxic agents may reach mature spermatozoa or their precursors via the blood stream and induce their harmful effect on sperm motility in vivo.