Sperm DNA fragmentation: An early and reliable marker of air pollution

Bosco, Liana; Notari, Tiziana; Ruvolo, Giovanni; Roccheri, Maria Carmela; Martino, Chiara; Chiappetta, R.; Carone, Domenico; Bosco, Giosuè Lo; Carrillo, Laura; Raimondo, Salvatore; Guglielmino, Antonino; Montano, Luigi

doi:10.1016/j.etap.2018.02.001

Cited by 46 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…What is the HPV DNA physical state in sperms? It is well known that, in the late stages of most cervical cancers in women, HPV genome can recombine with chromosomal DNA and this event can yield integration in the cellular genome [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

HPV infection in semen: results from a new molecular approach

et al. 2019

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the agent of the most common sexually transmitted diseases causing a variety of clinical manifestations ranging from warts to cancer. Oncogenic HPV infection is the major cause of cervical cancer and less frequently of penile cancers. Its presence in semen is widely known, but the effects on fertility are still controversial. We developed a new approach to evaluate virus localisation in the different semen components. We analysed also the specific genotype localisation and viral DNA quantity by qPCR. Results show that HPV DNA can be identified in every fraction of semen: spermatozoa, somatic cells and seminal plasma. Different samples can contain the HPV DNA in different fractions and several HPV genotypes can be found in the same fraction. Additionally, different fractions may contain multiple HPV genotypes in different relative quantity. We analysed the wholeness of HPV DNA in sperm cells by qPCR. In one sample more than half of viral genomes were defective, suggesting a possible recombination event. The new method allows to easily distinguish different sperm infections and to observe the possible effects on semen. The data support the proposed role of HPV in decreased fertility and prompt new possible consequences of the infection in semen.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

HPV infection in semen: results from a new molecular approach

et al. 2019

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“…Therefore, in the present study, we considered it more appropriate to use the spermatozoa of men living in high environmental impact sites, such the “Land of Fires”, where some heavy metals, that participate in Fenton-like reactions, such as copper or chromium, are particularly abundant. In fact, in these subjects, a higher DNA fragmentation index [ 12 ] and alterations of specific bio-markers of DNA oxidative damages have been reported [ 11 ]. In particular, the comparison of subsets of randomly selected subjects from the L- and H-groups showed significantly lower Glutathione-S reductase and Glutathione peroxidase activities in the subset from the H-group (−32% and −25%, respectively; p < 0.05).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This observation prompted us to investigate through molecular-level analyses the possibility that SNBP from men living in polluted areas might have an involvement in oxidative DNA damage. In fact, we found a higher DNA fragmentation index in the spermatozoa of males recruited in the “Land of Fires”, which is a high environmental impact area of Campania Region (Southern Italy) [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ] in which resident people presented similar values for semen volume, pH, sperm cell count, and morphology, but a significant increase of immotile cells percentage [ 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovery of the Involvement in DNA Oxidative Damage of Human Sperm Nuclear Basic Proteins of Healthy Young Men Living in Polluted Areas

Lettieri

D’Agostino

Mele

et al. 2020

IJMS

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DNA oxidative damage is one of the main concerns being implicated in severe cell alterations, promoting different types of human disorders and diseases. For their characteristics, male gametes are the most sensitive cells to the accumulation of damaged DNA. We have recently reported the relevance of arginine residues in the Cu(II)-induced DNA breakage of sperm H1 histones. In this work, we have extended our previous findings investigating the involvement of human sperm nuclear basic proteins on DNA oxidative damage in healthy males presenting copper and chromium excess in their semen. We found in 84% of those males an altered protamines/histones ratio and a different DNA binding mode even for those presenting a canonical protamines/histones ratio. Furthermore, all the sperm nuclear basic proteins from these samples that resulted were involved in DNA oxidative damage, supporting the idea that these proteins could promote the Fenton reaction in DNA proximity by increasing the availability of these metals near the binding surface of DNA. In conclusion, our study reveals a new and unexpected behavior of human sperm nuclear basic proteins in oxidative DNA damage, providing new insights for understanding the mechanisms related to processes in which oxidative DNA damage is implicated.

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“…In particular, chronic exposure to high levels of PM 10 , PM 2.5 and individual air pollutants such as NO 2 and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) are negatively associated with sperm count, motility and testicular volume in infertile subjects 52,53 . The mechanisms of spermatogenesis damage by environmental agents are largely unknown, although radical oxygen species (ROS) imbalance and associated oxidative stress may be the common denominator through which pollutants alter the most sensitive parameters of seminal quality such as sperm count, motility, morphology and integrity of sperm DNA [54][55][56] . As a matter of fact, sperm cells are highly sensitive to the pro-oxidant effects of environmental pollutants, due to the limited volume of the cytoplasmic space, with less antioxidant defence, and sperm membrane lipids are target of ROS 57 .…”

Section: Sperm Decline In Polluted Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semen Quality as a Potential Susceptibility Indicator to SARS-CoV-2 Insults in Polluted Areas<strong> </strong>

Montano¹,

Bonapace²,

Donato³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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High levels of air pollution can contribute to high rate of the COVID-19 outbreaks. Air pollutants induce oxidative stress, inflammatory process, immune imbalance and coagulation at systemic level, making the organism susceptible to complications caused by various pathogens, including viruses, resulting in a possible important damage co-factor. Sperm cells are highly sensitive to the pro-oxidant effects of environmental pollutants, and represent an important alarm bell indicating how the burden of environmental pressure in a certain area is becoming increasingly unsustainable. We underline that overlapping among maps of case fatality rate of COVID-19, male infertility rate and air pollution can be a challenging idea to understand the dynamics of the virus impact, considering semen quality that is an early and sensitive environmental marker, and could be a potential susceptibility indicator to viral insults (including SARS-CoV-2 ) in heavily polluted areas. So that, assessing the burden of environmental exposure of a given population and its potential susceptibility to insults through early biological stress indicators able to predict the probability, nature and magnitude for the adverse effects is a major public health challenge.

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Sperm DNA fragmentation: An early and reliable marker of air pollution

Cited by 46 publications

References 48 publications

HPV infection in semen: results from a new molecular approach

HPV infection in semen: results from a new molecular approach

Discovery of the Involvement in DNA Oxidative Damage of Human Sperm Nuclear Basic Proteins of Healthy Young Men Living in Polluted Areas

Semen Quality as a Potential Susceptibility Indicator to SARS-CoV-2 Insults in Polluted Areas<strong> </strong>

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