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Sperm chromosomal aneuploidy and DNA integrity of infertile men with anejaculation

  • Genetics
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Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To explore sperm chromosomal aneuploidy, sperm membrane and DNA integrity in infertile patients with anejaculation.

Methods

Semen samples were collected from 18 infertile men with spinal cord injury (SCI) by penile vibratory stimulation (PVS) and from 14 psychogenic anejaculation (PA) patients by percutaneous vasal sperm aspiration (PVSA). These semen samples as well as samples from 16 donors were analyzed using the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test, the sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) test and multi-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with probes specific for chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y.

Results

There were significant differences in the percentages of motile sperm, normal morphologic sperm and sperm DNA fragmentation between the infertile men with SCI and the control group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). The sperm motility was significantly greater in the PA-PVSA group than in the SCI-PVS group (P < 0.01). The number of round cells per mL of semen obtained from the 18 SCI patients by PVS was between 1 and 8 million. The rate of sperm DNA fragmentation in the SCI-PVS group was higher than that of the PA-PVSA group (P < 0.05). The aneuploidy rates for the SCI patients were 2.4-fold higher for chromosomes 13, 18 and 21 and 2.2-fold higher for chromosomes X and Y than for patients in the control group (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions

The semen quality is poorer, sperm DNA fragmentation and sperm chromosomal aneuploidies are seen at a higher rate for SCI patients compared to healthy, fertile and normospermic men. Whether the difference in yield is due to increased scrotal temperature, genitourinary infection, or other reasons requires further study.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the technical and clinical staff (Dan-tong Yang and Yan-ping Zhang) at the Key Laboratory for Improving Birth Outcome Technique. This work was supported financially by a grant from the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (grant ZR2010HM016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Improving Birth Outcome Technique, Shandong Provincial Family Planning Institute of Science and Technology, 69 Yuhan Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250002, China

    Yi Qiu, Lei-Guang Wang, Li-Hong Zhang, Juan Li, Ai-Dong Zhang & Mei-Hua Zhang

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  1. Yi Qiu
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  2. Lei-Guang Wang
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  3. Li-Hong Zhang
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  4. Juan Li
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  5. Ai-Dong Zhang
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  6. Mei-Hua Zhang
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Correspondence to Yi Qiu.

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This work was supported financially by a grant from the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (grant ZR2010HM016).

Capsule The rate of sperm chromosomal aneuploidy and DNA integrity for anejaculatory patients with spinal cord injury was significantly higher than healthy, fertile and normospermic men.

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Qiu, Y., Wang, LG., Zhang, LH. et al. Sperm chromosomal aneuploidy and DNA integrity of infertile men with anejaculation. J Assist Reprod Genet 29, 185–194 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-011-9688-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-011-9688-4

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