Summary

Infertility is recognized as a global public health issue by the World Health Organization (WHO), and it affects around 10 – 15 % of married couples. The situation in Sri Lanka is not far different from figures of worldwide studies. Being a leading secondary care center, we are dealing with more than 500 subfertile couples annually. Among them 5 – 10 % of couples infertility is solely due to zero sperm count termed as “Azoospermia”. Using donor gametes is the only treatment option available for those couples at present. The concept of “In vitro sperm” emerged in early 70s for the treatment of this problem however, it is still in the research level but encouraging result with animal studies. In a previous study, we could differentiate “Mesenchymal Stem Cells” isolated from human Wharton’s jelly into haploid cells resembling round spermatids like cells. Our major objective in this study is to transform both natural and in vitro derived spermatids into spermatozoa (spermiogenesis). The emanating data would be more important for the scientific community who are involved in in vitro spermatogenesis research for the benefits of millions of subfertile men worldwide.

Objectives

Our major objective in this study is to transform both natural and in vitro derived spermatids into spermatozoa (spermiogenesis) using two different models.

Specific objectives

1. Isolation and propagation of mescenchymal stem cells from Wharton’s jelly
2. Separation of spermatogenic cells from human semen samples
3. In vitro reduction of the ploidy of both spermatogenic cell and non Spermatogenic Mesenchymal stem cells.
4. Comparison of the efficacy of two culture systems for transforming spermatids into spermatozoa

Major Equipment Facilitated by Grant