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. 2022 Jul 30;14(15):3155.
doi: 10.3390/nu14153155.

Sperm as a Carrier of Genome Instability in Relation to Paternal Lifestyle and Nutritional Conditions

Usha Punjabi  1   2 , Ilse Goovaerts  1   2 , Kris Peeters  1   2 , Helga Van Mulders  1 , Diane De Neubourg  1   2
Affiliations

Sperm as a Carrier of Genome Instability in Relation to Paternal Lifestyle and Nutritional Conditions

Usha Punjabi et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Endogenous and exogenous factors can severely affect the integrity of genetic information by inducing DNA damage and impairing genome stability. The extent to which men with and without subfertility are exposed to several adverse lifestyle factors and the impact on sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), sperm chromatin maturity (condensation and decondensation), stability (hypo- and hypercondensation) and sperm aneuploidy are assessed in this study. Standardized assays employing flow cytometry were used to detect genome instability in 556 samples. Semen parameters deteriorated with age, BMI, increased physical activity and smoking. Age and BMI were associated with increased SDF. Increased BMI was associated with increased hypocondensed chromatin and decreased decondensed chromatin. Increase in age also caused an increase in sex chromosome aneuploidy in sperms. Surprisingly, alcohol abuse reduced chromatin hypercondensation and drug abuse reduced SDF. Although genome instability was more pronounced in the subfertile population as compared to the fertile group, the proportion of men with at least one lifestyle risk factor was the same in both the fertile and subfertile groups. While one in three benefited from nutritional supplementation, one in five showed an increase in SDF after supplementation. Whilst the message of 'no smoking, no alcohol, no drugs, but a healthy diet' should be offered as good health advice, we are a long way from concluding that nutritional supplementation would be beneficial for male fertility.

Keywords: chromatin maturity; genome instability; lifestyle factors; male BMI; male age; oxidative stress; semen parameters; sperm DNA fragmentation; sperm aneuploidy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the lifestyle factors analyzed and methods for genome instability assessment in male factor infertility. Figure created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age-related effects on semen parameters and total SDF.
Figure 3
Figure 3
BMI-related effect on semen parameters, total SDF and age.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of physical activity on sperm morphology.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Relation between male age and number of cigarettes smoked per day. Similar letters demonstrate significant differences between the different smoking categories.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effect of drug abuse and different types of drugs used on total SDF.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Effect of nutrient supplementation on total and vital SDF.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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