Innovation to study male infertility.

Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), February 2012.- La Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has patented an innovation for infertility of an individual through the study of oxidative stress of sperm a little studied to date parameter to specify a simple, economic and reliable way. The method has been developed by Jordi Benet and Agustí Garcia Peiró, Professor and doctoral researcher, respectively, of the unit cell biology and medical genetics at the University. The spin-off CIMAB (Center of male infertility and analysis of Barcelona) was created to commercialize it.

Male infertility requires a comprehensive analysis of sperm to know what causes the problem of the patient and guide it towards the most appropriate treatment. The main parameters that are currently studied are concentration, mobility and sperm morphology, but recently has begun to consider a new parameter, the spermatic DNA fragmentation.

Oxidative stress of sperm is responsible for the fragmentation of DNA, therefore this parameter determination can justify the presence of this fragmentation and rule out other factors. This will help to ensure that the doctor can determine the need or not of prescribed treatment with antioxidants who really need it.

Unlike other existing methods, the system that we have developed has the advantages that it is simple, quick and cheap, and any laboratory can easily incorporate ”, says Agustí Garcia Peiró. The main innovation consists of re-formation of the means of analysis, that allows to study sperm more accurately and minimize false positives of oxidative stress which may occur.

In order to provide a service of diagnosis with the new method has created the spin-off CIMAB (Center of male infertility and analysis of Barcelona), which focus their activity to determine the potential fertile an individual from different methods of analysis of sperm and will offer its services to specialists in infertilityas gynecologists, urologists, andrologists, reproduction clinics and sperm banks. The entrepreneur who is at the forefront of this service is Agustí Garcia Peiró.

Currently 15% of couples of childbearing age are infertile and male factor is present in 50% of cases.