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Sperm DNA fragmentation and male fertility: a retrospective study of 5114 men attending a reproductive center

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Abstract

Purpose

The sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) was quantitatively measured and its relationship with age, semen quality, and infertility conditions was investigated.

Methods

Semen routine test and sperm DFI were performed in 2760 infertile male and 2354 male whose spouse experienced at least one unexplained miscarriage to analyze the correlation between sperm DNA damage, semen routine parameters, and age.

Results

Sperm DFI was significantly lower from patients whose wife experienced unexplained miscarriage compared to infertility males (p = 0.000). An inverse correlation between sperm DFI and sperm progressive motility was observed (rs = − 0.465, p = 0.000) and sperm DFI was positively correlated with age (rs = 0.255, p = 0.000). However, the correlation between sperm DFI and sperm concentration, semen volume, total sperm count, and motile sperm count were not proved.

Conclusions

Sperm DFI is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of semen. Sperm DNA integrity testing is preferentially recommended to those who have decreased sperm progressive motility, especially older men. An integrative analysis of sperm DFI, sperm progressive motility, age, and infertility conditions can provide a more comprehensive assessment of male fertility.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank their grant sponsors, National Key R&D Program of China(2018YFC1004302), Open Project of the Key Laboratory of Male Reproductive Medicine and Genetics, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China (grant no: KF201708), and National Natural Science Foundation (grant nos. 81471495).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310006, Hangzhou, China

    Fengbin Zhang, Jingping Li, Zhongyan Liang, Jinggen Wu, Lejun Li, Chong Chen, Fan Jin & Yonghong Tian

  2. Key Laboratory of Reproductive Genetics, Ministry of Education, Hangzhou, China

    Fan Jin & Yonghong Tian

Authors
  1. Fengbin Zhang
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  2. Jingping Li
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  3. Zhongyan Liang
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  4. Jinggen Wu
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  5. Lejun Li
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  6. Chong Chen
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  7. Fan Jin
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Contributions

Yonghong Tian and Fan Jin conceived the idea and designed the study. Fengbin Zhang and Jinggen Wu collected the retrospective clinical data; Jingping Li and Zhongyan Liang analyzed data and conducted the statistical analysis. Fengbin Zhang and Chong Chen wrote the manuscript. Yonghong Tian and Lejun Li reviewed and assessed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yonghong Tian.

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This study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Boards of our facility (IRB-20200152-R).

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The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Zhang, F., Li, J., Liang, Z. et al. Sperm DNA fragmentation and male fertility: a retrospective study of 5114 men attending a reproductive center. J Assist Reprod Genet 38, 1133–1141 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-021-02120-5

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