Risk of embryo aneuploidy is affected by the increase in sperm DNA damage in recurrent implantation failure patients under ICSI-CGH array cycles

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between sperm DNA damage in recurrent implantation failure (RIF) patients treated with comparative genomic hybridisation array-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (CGH array-ICSI) cycles and embryo aneuploidy screening. Forty-two RIF couples were selected. Sperm DFI was measured using TUNEL by flow cytometry. Two groups were defined as follows: (i) sperm with high DFI (> 20%); and (ii) low DFI (< 20%). Semen parameters, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and malondialdehyde formation (MDA) were also measured in both groups. Following oocyte retrieval and ICSI procedure, blastomere biopsy was performed at the 4th day of development and evaluated with CGH-array. The high DFI group had a significant (p = 0.04) increase in the number of aneuploid embryos compared to the low one. According to Poisson regression results, the risk of aneuploidy embryos in the high DFI group was 55% higher than the low DFI group (RR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.358-1.772). Moreover, chromosomal analysis showed an elevation of aneuploidy in chromosomes number 16 and 20 in the high DFI group compared to the low DFI group (p < 0.05). The high DFI in RIF patients may significantly affect the risk of aneuploidy embryos. Therefore, embryo selection by CGH-array should be considered for couples with high levels of sperm DNA fragmentation.

Keywords: Aneuploidy; CGH array; Human embryo; Oxidative stress; Sperm DNA fragmentation; Total antioxidant capacity.