MACS®

At Embryoland, we have the opportunity to use the MACS® ART Annexin V System in order to obtain high quality spermatozoa for use in assisted reproduction treatments, thus increasing your chances of achieving a pregnancy.

This technique can benefit all patients undergoing assisted reproduction treatments but is mostly useful in cases of:

• Sperm samples with a high level of sperm DNA fragmentation
• Repeated miscarriages with an unidentified cause
• Previous failed IVF cycles
• Suboptimal embryo quality when it is not attributed to oocyte quality

Please refer to your treating doctor at Embryoland, should you wish to proceed with this technique.

Apoptotic sperm cells (sperm cells that are programmed to undergo cell death) in sperm preparations decrease the specimen quality. The MACS® ART Annexin V System is designed to allow spermatozoa with the best characteristics to be selected for use in assisted reproduction treatments by selectively removing apoptotic spermatozoa from sperm preparations.

Annexin V recognizes the antigen EPS (externalized phosphatidylserine) in the plasma membrane of apoptotic cells. Apoptotic cell removal begins with the magnetic labeling of apoptotic sperm cells by the MACS® ART Annexin V Reagent, which are tiny biodegradable magnetic particles that have an antibody attached (the protein annexin V). The labeled sperm cells are then passed through a separation column located in a fixed magnetic field. Unwanted sperm cells are selectively retained in the column. Living spermatozoa are not labeled by the reagent, so they pass through the column and are collected for later use.

The enriched sperm populations show higher overall quality in terms of: morphology, motility, DNA fragmentation, apoptosis, cryosurvival rates, fertilization potential and embryo cleavage rates.