Background: Cryopreservation of sperm has increasingly become an essential technique that allows sperm to maintain biological function and genetic diversity. However, it is known that the freezing of sperm negatively influences the sperm pa- rameters by producing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). The effect of Papaverine (PPV) supplementation on oxidative stress parameters during cryopreservation of semen samples of asthe- nozoospermic men was assessed. Materials and Methods: Semen samples of 30 asthenozoo- spermic men were divided into: Control (fresh), Freeze (treated with cryo-protectant alone), and Freeze + PPV (treated with cryo-protectant + 100 µM PPV solution). Sperm motility was evaluated with light microscope, sperm viability with eosin- nigrosin staining and sperm morphology using the Diff Quick kit. Data were analyzed using Repeated Measure analysis and Bonferroni post-hoc test. Results: Sperm motility, normal morphology and viability sig- nificantly decreased in the Freeze group compared to the Con- trol group (P<0.001). Whereas, in the Freeze+ PPV group a sig- nificant increase was observed in these parameters compared to the Freeze group (P<0.001). Conclusion: Our results indicated that PPV ameliorates the ad- verse effects of cryopreservation on sperm quality in the asthe- nozoospermic men.
