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. 2011;15(4):122-9.
doi: 10.6091/ibj.990.2012.

Impact of DNA damage on the frequency of sperm chromosomal aneuploidy in normal and subfertile men

Hamid Alizadeh Nili  1 , Hossein Mozdarani  1 , Franck Pellestor  2
Affiliations

Impact of DNA damage on the frequency of sperm chromosomal aneuploidy in normal and subfertile men

Hamid Alizadeh Nili et al. Iran Biomed J. 2011.

Abstract

Background: Various frequencies of sperm aneuploidy are reported in sperms of subfertile patients compared to normal individuals. Moreover, sperm DNA damage is shown to be associated with male infertility. In this study, the rate of DNA damage and frequencies of aneuploidy in sperms of subfertile patients was investigated.

Methods: Semen samples were obtained from healthy normal and subfertile (oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, and oligoasthenozoospermia) men. The frequency of aneuploidy was assessed using primed in situ labeling (PRINS) analysis with specific primers for chromosomes 18, 21, X, and Y. Sperm DNA damage was assessed using alkaline comet assay.

Results: The mean frequencies of disomy for the patients were significantly higher than normal for all chromosomes (P < 0.01). The extent of DNA damage in sperms of subfertiles was significantly higher than in normal individuals (P < 0.001). The obtained results indicated that higher rate of DNA damages led to higher frequency of chromosomal disomy except for asthenozoospermia samples which exhibited higher rate of DNA damage and lower frequency of chromosomal disomy.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate that men with oligozoospermia and oligoasthenozoospermia have an elevated risk for chromosome abnormalities in their sperm, particularly sex chromosomes. DNA damage might be involved in the process of malsegregation of chromosomes.

Keywords: Asthenozoospermia; DNA damage, Primed in situ labeling; Comet assay.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Typical sperm nuclei with various degrees of DNA damage observed as comet. Score 0 denotes undamaged cell and score 4 denotes heavily damaged cell (see text for more details). All types of comets are seen in all studied groups, but the frequency of each type differed between normal and infertile groups (magnification ×400).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percentage of DNA damage calculated for sperm samples from normal (n = 14) and subfertile individuals (n = 10 each group). Each data point indicates data obtained for one sample. Redrawn from Nili et al. [20] with permission.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Example photomicrographs of sperm nucleus showing in situ PRINS labeling and chromosome disomies; A1 (XY); B1 (18/18) and B2 (21/21). Since the frequency of disomy was very low in either case, photomicrographs of cells showing disomy for each category were put in a single plate just to show the appearance of labels on each sperm. The appearance of labels in sperms of all studied group was similar (magnification ×1000).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Bar charts showing percentage of DNA damage versus percentage of disomy observed for chromosomes X, Y and XY (A) and disomy observed for chromosomes 18 and 21 (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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