Clinical Factors Associated with Sperm DNA Fragmentation in Male Patients with Infertility

Abstract

Objective. The clinical factors associated with sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) were investigated in male patients with infertility. Materials and Methods. Fifty-four ejaculates from infertile Japanese males were used. Thirty-three and twenty-one were from the patients with varicoceles and idiopathic causes of infertility, respectively. We performed blood tests, including the serum sex hormone levels, and conventional and computer-assisted semen analyses. The sperm nuclear vacuolization (SNV) was evaluated using a high-magnification microscope. The SDF was evaluated using the sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCDt) to determine the SDF index (SDFI). The SDFI was compared with semen parameters and other clinical variables, including lifestyle factors. Results. The SDFI was 41.3 ± 22.2% (mean ± standard deviation) and did not depend on the cause of infertility. Chronic alcohol use increased the SDFI to 49.6 ± 23.3% compared with 33.9 ± 18.0% in nondrinkers. The SDFI was related to adverse conventional semen parameters and sperm motion characteristics and correlated with the serum FSH level. The SNV showed a tendency to increase with the SDFI. The multivariate analysis revealed that the sperm progressive motility and chronic alcohol use were significant predictors of the SDF. Conclusion. The SCDt should be offered to chronic alcohol users and those with decreased sperm progressive motility.

Increased DNA Fragmentation in Patients with Infertility in Dakar (Senegal)

“…This state is associated with poor fertilization rates and bad embryo development [11] [14]. Sperm DNA fragmentation is increasingly being recognized as an important factor of infertility [15] and is widely investigated [15]. This fact has led to the introduction of sperm DNA integrity testing to the clinical assessment of male infertility (The practice committee, 2013) [16].…”

Сomparative evaluation of sperm DNA fragmentation and other sperm parameters

“…Нам удалось подтвердить данные многих исследователей [8,9,17] о наличии cильной корреляционной связи между уровнем фрагментации ДНК сперматозоидов и концентрацией подвижных сперматозоидов при мужском бесплодии.…”

Sperm DNA Fragmentation: A New Guideline for Clinicians

“…Various studies have been conducted linking several lifestyle factors/environmental exposures to elevated levels of SDF [78,94,[189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198]. These factors include (i) Physical agents such as radiation and heat; (ii) Chemical agents such as cigarette smoke, airborne pollutants, and chemotherapeutic drugs; and (iii) Biological factors including sexually transmitted infections, increasing male age, elevated body mass index (BMI) and medical conditions such as insulin dependent diabetes [78,94,[189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][199][200][201]. Elevated OS levels is believed to be the main mechanism resulting in SDF with these exposures.…”