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Evaluation of Chromatin and DNA Integrity in Testicular Sperm

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Sperm Chromatin

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Abstract

There is a universal agreement that the examination of conventional semen parameters alone only provides the clinician with a general sense of male reproductive health. Recently, sperm DNA fragmentation/damage has been studied extensively in an attempt to improve the diagnostic accuracy of the male evaluation, particularly, in couples with idiopathic infertility. However, the pathophysiology and etiology of sperm DNA damage (DD) in humans are incompletely understood, and to date, there are very few data on the treatment options for infertile men with this sperm defect. There are several tests used to assess chromatin and/or DD in ejaculated spermatozoa. Using these assays, attempts have been made toward establishing threshold values for the percentage of sperm with DD, the values above which fertility would be affected. Nonetheless, these assays need to be standardized, as there is wide variation among the various tests of sperm DD and these assays have not been tailored to evaluate testicular sperm DD. An alternative approach to improve assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes in men with high levels of sperm DD is to obtain testicular spermatozoa. This approach is based on the assumption that testicular spermatozoa generally have lower levels of DD than ejaculated spermatozoa because sperm DD may in part be caused by a posttesticular insult.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, McGill University, St. Mary’s Hospital Center, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Armand Zini MD

  2. Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Naif Al-Hathal MD

Authors
  1. Armand Zini MD
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  2. Naif Al-Hathal MD
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Correspondence to Armand Zini MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  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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Zini, A., Al-Hathal, N. (2011). Evaluation of Chromatin and DNA Integrity in Testicular Sperm. In: Zini, A., Agarwal, A. (eds) Sperm Chromatin. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6857-9_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6857-9_34

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1781-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-6857-9

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