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Aging and Sperm DNA Damage

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Sperm Chromatin

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Abstract

As life expectancy increases and our lives become busier every day, many couples are waiting longer to establish their families. Female fecundity declines slowly after age 30 and more rapidly after 40 and is considered the main limiting factor in the treatment of infertility. Also, the effects of paternal age on a couple’s fertility are real and may be greater than have previously been thought. After adjustments for other factors, it has been demonstrated that the probability that a fertile couple will take >12 months to conceive nearly doubles from 8% when the man is <25 years to 15% when he is >35 years; thus, paternal age is a further factor to be taken into account when deciding the prognosis of infertile couples. Also, the increased male age is associated with a significant decline in fertility ­(fivefold longer time to pregnancy at the age of 45 years), which is independent of the woman’s age, coital frequency, and lifestyle effect, as well as the effect of other subfertility risk factors. Furthermore, fathering at older ages may have significant effects on the viability and genetic health of human pregnancies and offspring, primarily as a result of structural chromosomal aberrations in sperm. The evidence for sex chromosomal aneuploidy suggests that there may be about a twofold increase in risk at the age of 50. In fact, the risk for a father over 40 years old to have a child with an autosomal dominant mutation equals the risk of Down syndrome for a child whose mother is 35–40 years old. Recent reports have raised concern about decreasing male fertility caused by genomic abnormalities. There are reports of increased congenital anomalies and testicular cancer in children. Sperm DNA is known to contribute one half of the genomic material to offspring. Thus, normal sperm genetic material is required for fertilization, embryo and fetal development, and postnatal child well-being. Abnormal DNA can lead to derangements in any of these processes. The abnormality or defect in the genomic material may take the form of condensation or nuclear maturity defects, DNA breaks or DNA integrity defects, and sperm chromosomal aneuploidy. Evidence for the decline in men’s fertility with increasing age and its quantification are provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, University of Caxias do Sul, Rua Pinheiro Machado, 2569, sl 23/24, Bairro São Pelegrino, Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil

    Fábio F. Pasqualotto MD, PhD

  2. Department of Gynecology, University of Caxias do Sul, Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil

    Eleonora B. Pasqualotto MD, PhD

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  1. Fábio F. Pasqualotto MD, PhD
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  2. Eleonora B. Pasqualotto MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Fábio F. Pasqualotto MD, PhD .

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  1. St. Mary's Hospital, Div. Urology, McGill University, Lacombe Avenue 3830, Montreal, H3T 1M5, Québec, Canada

    Armand Zini

  2. Lerner College of Medicine, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Euclid Avenue 9500, Cleveland, 44195, Ohio, USA

    Ashok Agarwal

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Pasqualotto, F.F., Pasqualotto, E.B. (2011). Aging and Sperm DNA Damage. In: Zini, A., Agarwal, A. (eds) Sperm Chromatin. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6857-9_23

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