{"title":"Microscopic ferning in human pre-ejaculate is highly correlated with the absence of sperm.","authors":"Jasmine Patel, Anita L Nelson, Brian T Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.contraception.2024.110557","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>We characterize microscopic ferning in pre-ejaculate samples with and without sperm.</p><p><strong>Study design: </strong>Healthy, male, withdrawal-experienced participants provided up to three paired pre-ejaculate and ejaculate samples. We centrifuged ejaculate samples to obtain a supernatant without sperm. After sperm analysis, we dried and evaluated pre-ejaculate, ejaculate, and supernatants for microscopic ferning.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 57 pre-ejaculate samples (N = 24 men), seven (12.3%) contained sperm, none of which exhibited ferning. Sixty-six percent (33/50) of pre-ejaculate samples without sperm exhibited ferning. Neither ejaculate nor supernatant samples exhibited ferning.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Ferning may distinguish clinical pre-ejaculate with and without sperm. Ferning exhibited 100% specificity for pre-ejaculate without sperm.</p>","PeriodicalId":93955,"journal":{"name":"Contraception","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Contraception","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2024.110557","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: We characterize microscopic ferning in pre-ejaculate samples with and without sperm.
Study design: Healthy, male, withdrawal-experienced participants provided up to three paired pre-ejaculate and ejaculate samples. We centrifuged ejaculate samples to obtain a supernatant without sperm. After sperm analysis, we dried and evaluated pre-ejaculate, ejaculate, and supernatants for microscopic ferning.
Results: Of 57 pre-ejaculate samples (N = 24 men), seven (12.3%) contained sperm, none of which exhibited ferning. Sixty-six percent (33/50) of pre-ejaculate samples without sperm exhibited ferning. Neither ejaculate nor supernatant samples exhibited ferning.
Conclusion: Ferning may distinguish clinical pre-ejaculate with and without sperm. Ferning exhibited 100% specificity for pre-ejaculate without sperm.