The Effects of Astragalus Membranaceus Extract on Sperm Quality in vitro

This study is to explore the effects on sperm quality and fertilizing ability by using astragalus merrdrranaceus extract as additive among infertile males.Human sperms were cultured in the concentrated astragalus membranaceus extract for 1 h,then semen parameters were measured by the equipment of computer-assisted semenanalyzer(CASA).The results are as follows:compared with the original semen,the sperm motility and velocity,the percentage of grade A sperms and the swayingfrequency of sperm heads were improved markedly in the semen treated with astra-galus membranaceus extract(P＜0.05).Meanwhile,the astragalus membranaceus aqueous extract was analyzed by atomic absorption spectroplvotometer.It was foundthere exist several metal elements and a certain amount of trace elements in the extract(10mg/ml).The concentration of K^+,Ca^2-,Zn^2- were 25.1 μg/ml,7.28 μg/ml,and 0.47 μg/ml respectively.The influence of this additive on artificial insemination was also discussed.We considered that the studied Chinese herbal medicine additive has good effects on sperm preparation in vitro,and this might be a potential method in assisted reproductive technology.