Universitas Indonesia (UI) inaugurated Prof. Dr. dr. Silvia Werdhy Lestari, M.Biomed., Sp.And., as a professor in the field of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine (FK) in the IMERI Hall, UI Salemba Campus, this morning (Wednesday, 8/11). On this occasion, she delivered her inaugural speech entitled “Sperm Selection Innovation in Assisted Reproductive Technology: The Importance of Male Reproductive Health in the Context of Creating Healthy Human Resources, Towards a Golden Indonesia 2045”.
In her speech, Prof. Silvia said that one of the targets of social transformation in achieving a Golden Indonesia 2045 is a Healthy Indonesia. On the other hand, Indonesia will experience the peak of the demographic bonus in 2030, where 68.3% of Indonesia’s total population is of productive age. She said, health is a comprehensive condition; it is not only limited to the presence or absence of a disease, but also physical, mental, and social health, including the reproductive system and its functions.
Furthermore, she conveyed that reproductive system disorders cause infertility or what is defined as the inability of a married couple (couple) to have children for approximately one year. Currently, there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of infertility, namely around 70 million couples, with 40-70% caused by male factors. Male factors in infertility throughout the world are mostly caused by decreased sperm concentration (oligo or extreme oligozoospermia), impaired motility (asthenozoospermia), and normal sperm morphology (teratozoospermia).
Various algorithms for treating male infertility have been developed, in the form of sperm repair for hormonal disorders, administration of antibiotics, antioxidants, varicocele surgery and even Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). ART methods such as Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), have been proven to increase the chances of overcoming infertility related to sperm quality. However, success rates for ART vary widely. One of the factors that determines the success rate of ART is sperm selection or also known as sperm preparation.
There are various sperm selection techniques, such as swim up (SU), density gradient centrifugation (DGC), or a combination, with various centrifugation speeds and periods. However, this sperm selection procedure can also damage sperm due to repeated centrifugation and pipetting, thus the final results of the sperm selection method sometimes do not meet expectations and can cause ART failure. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate or find applications of new research results in the form of modifying sperm selection in ART and improving sperm quality first before using the ART method.
Prof. Silvia and her team made innovations in the form of technical modifications to sperm preparation, namely speed and a certain period for centrifugation that is appropriate to the condition of sperm quality at the time of release. This is done to obtain a higher quality sperm harvest that can be used for ART intrauterine insemination (IUI). Therefore, it is necessary to modify the technique in the preparation method to suit the quality of the sperm sample, which allows the selection procedure for sperm preparation to be less damaging, especially in the condition of sperm which is already abnormal or even damaged.
“Furthermore, we also modified the sperm quality selection method in the form of a combination of the number of motile sperm with the DNA fragmentation index (DFI), which aims to obtain optimal sperm for use in each type of pregnancy program (promil); whether in natural pregnancy program, intrauterine insemination (IUI), or in vitro fertilization (IVF). This modification of the sperm quality selection method involves sperm parameters in the form of the number of motile sperm, sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), and a combination of the number of motile sperm and DFI. It has been proven that modifying the sperm quality selection method can increase pregnancy success,” said Prof. Silvia.
Moving forward, Prof. Silvia and her team will continue to carry out research that focuses on male reproductive health, modification of sperm selection at the cellular or molecular level, increasing sperm yield from testicles, improving embryo quality in terms of sperm and developing sperm stem cells. “All of this is solely to create healthy male human resources which are ready to welcome the government’s long-term program, namely Golden Indonesia 2045,” said Prof. Silvia.
The inauguration process was led by the Secretary of the UI Board of Professores (DGB), Prof. Dr. drg. Indang Trihandini, M.Kes., and was attended by the Director of Medicine and Nursing at Harapan Kita Hospital Dr. dr. Muhadi, SpPD-KKV, FINASIM.; Vice Dean of FK Bosowa University dr. Rahmawati Thamrin, Sp.And.; Professor of FK Udayana University Prof. Dr. dr. Wimpie Pangkahila, Sp.And(K).; and Professor of FK Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Prof. Dr. dr. Dicky Moch Rizal, M.Kes., Sp.And (K)., AIFM.
Prof. Silvia studied for her bachelor to doctoral degree at FKUI by completing a Bachelor of General Practitioner Education in 2001; graduated Masters in Biomedical Sciences, Masters Program in Biomedical Sciences in 2008; and succeeded in obtaining a Doctorate in Biomedical Sciences in 2015. Then, she continued her education as a Specialist in Andrology at the Faculty of Medicine, Airlangga University in 2019. Some of her scientific works are entitled Comparison of sperm parameters and DNA fragmentation index between infertile men with infection and vaccines of COVID-19 (2023 ); Sperm DNA fragmentation index: A comparative study of success rates among natural, intrauterine insemination (IUI) and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)-Intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) Pregnancy programs (2022); and Acupuncture therapy for severe-oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (2021).
