Micro-Raman Spectroscopy Reveals Distinct Differences in Sperm Quality Selected by Hyaluronic Acid

While the link between sperm selection with Hyaluronic Acid (HA) and DNA quality has been established, the specific mechanism behind this remains unclear. In order to shed light on this issue, micro-Raman spectroscopy was utilized to analyze the differences in the Raman spectral response of sperm cells bound with or without HA. Our results demonstrate that the Raman spectra of HA-bound sperm and HA-unbound sperm display distinct differences in Raman spectral response. Additionally, nucleoprotein staining and nuclear DNA fluorescent staining were performed to confirm that HA-bound sperm exhibit more mature nucleoproteins and higher DNA duplexes, further substantiating the efficacy of HA in selecting high-quality sperm cells. Overall, our findings suggest that HA can be effectively used to select high-quality sperm cells, and the combination of HA screening with micro-Raman spectroscopy offers a promising new route for objective and non-destructive screening of such cells.