Impact of semen quality on the risk of direct cleavage in human embryos.

Authors

Pengcheng Xu, Shujuan Ma, Yating Li, Yifan Gu, Fei Gong, Ge Lin, Junhua Zhou, Shuoping Zhang

Published in

Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics. Jun 22, 2026. Epub Jun 22, 2026.

Abstract

Direct cleavage (DC) is a prevalent abnormal cleavage pattern that adversely affects embryonic development. Though sperm dysfunction is thought to be involved in its pathogenesis, large-scale data confirming the link between routine semen parameters and DC risk are still lacking. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between semen parameters and DC occurrence in human embryos.
This retrospective study enrolled 4529 patients and analyzed morphokinetic data of 28,517 embryos retrieved at the Reproductive & Genetic Hospital of CITIC-XIANGYA, with the study period spanning from November 2022 and June 2025. All participants received semen parameter detection, covering sperm concentration, progressive motility, normal morphology, and acrosin activity within 1 year prior to oocyte retrieval. Embryos were categorized into DC and non-DC groups based on cleavage patterns observed at the first and second cleavage stages. Restriction cubic spline regression (RCS) was employed to analyze dose-response associations, and generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to account for hierarchical data from multiple embryos per patient. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were conducted to verify the robustness of the findings.
RCS analysis revealed a significant association between progressive motility and DC risk at the second cleavage stage (overall P = 0.006). GLMMs confirmed that elevated progressive motility was significantly associated with a decreased DC risk at this stage (OR = 0.922, 95% CI 0.870-0.977, P = 0.006). Higher acrosin activity was significantly associated with a lower DC risk at the second cleavage stage (OR = 0.910, 95% CI 0.830-0.999, P = 0.046). Sensitivity analyses, including limiting semen samples to those collected within 3 months before oocyte retrieval, excluding embryos from patients with severe oligo-, astheno-, or teratozoospermia, and restricting analyses to fresh semen specimens only, confirmed the consistency and robustness of the primary findings. Subgroup analyses additionally consolidated the reliable associations between progressive motility, acrosin activity, and DC.
Higher sperm progressive motility and acrosin activity are independently associated with a lower DC risk in human embryos. This study highlights the impact of semen quality on early embryonic development.

PMID:
42324377
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 22 Jun 2026.

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