Effect Of Vaginal Lubricants On Sperm Function Steven Fleming PhD Many women suffer from dyspareunia, it being twice

as common in couples attempting to conceive due to the stress associated with timed sexual intercourse. Dyspareunia can result from a lack of lubrication during coitus, with a higher incidence in women aged 2029 than in post-menopausal women. Women suffering from dyspareunia who avoid coitus will have a reduced chance of conceiving. To alleviate the symptoms associated with vaginal dryness many couples use lubricants, with up to 25% of women aged 30-45 trying to conceive using them. However, many natural and commercially available lubricants can have detrimental effects upon sperm function. Previous studies have shown that various lubricants affect sperm vitality, motility, morphology and chromatin integrity, which suggests that couples may be unable to achieve an efficient level of lubrication using commercially available lubricants without damaging sperm function. Therefore, the chemical composition of a lubricant and its potential impact on fertilization are important and should be taken into consideration. Lubricants of different composition have been marketed but many of them have not been studied, therefore making recommendations to couples difficult. Hence, various parameters of sperm function have been assessed following exposure to the following lubricants: Sylk, Conceive Plus, Glycerol, Johnsons Baby Oil, Sage culture oil, Yes, Forelife, MaybeBaby, Pre-seed, and K-Y Jelly (known to have detrimental effects upon sperm function and used as a positive control). Sage Hepes buffered medium containing 5% human serum albumen, used for sperm preparation during IUI, IVF and ICSI, was used as a negative control. Consequently, a list of sperm-friendly lubricants was compiled.