Correlation between Fertilization, Cleavage and Pregnancy Rate with Sperm DNA-Fragmentation Index (DFI)

• Main Author: Nymo, Kaitlin
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för medicinsk biokemi och mikrobiologi 2008
• Subjects: Human sperm; male infertility; Sperm Chromatin Dispersion Test; DNA-damage; in vitro fertilization.; Biochemistry; Biokemi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-9204

The chromatin integrity in sperm cells is vital for successful pregnancy. In this study DNA-damage was evaluated in sperm cells from 50 men attending In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) treatment. Male semen samples were purified with a two-shift gradient before the sperm cells were treated with the Halosperm® Test Kit and evaluated for DNA-damage. The samples were divided in two groups according to DNAFragmentation Index (DFI) of 30 % and the results correlated with fertilization, cleavage and pregnancy rate. Men with DFI ≥ 30 % had a higher fertilization and pregnancy rate and a lower cleavage rate compared to men with DFI ≤ 30 %. The conclusions were that fertilization in vitro may be independent of the degree of DNA-damage, the embryonic development could be seriously disrupted by damaged sperm cells, and the pregnancy rate showed no correlation to a DFI threshold of 30 %.