Smoking-induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in infertile men

Abstract

Male fertility rates have shown a progressive decrease in both developing and industrialised countries in the past 50 years. Clinical and epidemiological studies have demonstrated controversial results about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking on seminal parameters. Some studies could not establish a negative effect by tobacco smoking on sperm quality and function, whereas others have found a significant reduction in sperm quality and function. This study reviews the components in cigarette smoke and discusses the effects of smoking on male fertility by focusing extensively on smoking-induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in infertile men. Chromosomal aneuploidies, sperm DNA fragmentation and gene mutations are discussed in the first section, while changes in DNA methylation, chromatin remodelling and noncoding RNAs are discussed in the second section as part of epigenetic alterations.

Keywords: DNA fragmentation; cigarette smoke; epigenetics; genetic alterations; oxidative stress.