Sperm DNA Fragmentation (Oxidative stress, DNA damage and apoptosis, Test, Techniques, Relation to other semen parameters, Relationship to leucocytes, Relation to ICSI outcomes, Clinical applications, significance and limitations)
5. Main etiologies of sperm DNA damage
TesticularcancerAging
EnvironmentaltoxinsObesity
HormonaldisturbancesSmoking
TesticularhyperthermiaVaricocele
Drugs,chemotherapyandradiationInflammation
CryopreservationinARTprogramsFebrileillness
Spinalcordinjury
6. Etiology of sperm DNA damage
• TheetiologyofspermDNAdamageismostprobablymulti-factorialbut
compromisedchromatinremodeling,oxidativestressandabortiveapoptosisare
commonlydescribedtheories.
• SpermDNAdamagemayarisefromcombinationsofallthreemechanisms.
1. Abnormalchromatinremodeling
2. Oxidativestress
3. Abortiveapoptosis
Condensation of sperm DNA takes place during the final stage of spermatogenesis,
along with a remodelling of the nucleus and the loss of most of the sperm
cells cytoplasm. Condensation is achieved by the sequential displacement of histones
by transition proteins and then by protamines. Protamines are smaller than histones and
have extremely strong DNA binding capacity. Further condensation and stabilization of
sperm chromatin is obtained by the formation of disulfide cross-links between cysteines
abundantly present in protamines. This final stage of chromatin organization takes place
in the epididymis
Lower amount of protamines and abnormal protamine content will negatively affect sperm nuclear compaction.
During spermatogenesis a complex and dynamic process of proliferation and differentiation occurs as spermatogonia are transformed into spermatozoa. This process involves a series of meioses and mitoses, changes in cytoplasmic architecture, replacement of histones with protamines (protamination) leading to a highly packed chromatin. During protamination nicks are created to provide relief of torsional stress and aid chromatin rearrangements.
These nicks disappear completely at the time when chromatin packaging is Completed. McPherson and Longo (1992) hypothesized that chromatin
packaging requires an endogenous nuclease, topoisomerase II, to create and ligatenicks in order to facilitate protamination. In accordance with this hypothesis, it has recently been shown that topoisomerase II plays a major role in linking DNA replication to chromosome condensation and that it interplays with a large protein complex i.e. condensation, which has key functions in mitotic chromosome assembly and organization. In addition, it has also been shown that topoisomerase II is present in the human seminiferous tubules which are the location of spermatogenesis.
Sperm DNA Organization. Spermatozoa DNA is organized into three main domains: the majority of the sperm DNA is coiled into
DNAse-insensitive toroids that are stacked side to side to maximize compaction. This toroid structure is held stable due to the presence of
protamines which neutralize the repulsion between the phosodiester backbones. A smaller amount of DNA is associated with histones
present in the spermatozoa, with the remaining DNA attached to the nuclear matrix at Matrix Attachment Regions.
Sperm cells are especially
vulnerable for this type of damage, since they have no defence mechanism, apart
from the characteristic tight packaging of the DNA and anti-oxidants present in seminal
plasma.
The second hypothesis on the origins of DNA fragmentation in ejaculated spermatozoa describes oxidative stress as the underlying factor for sperm DNA
damage. Whilst Barrosso and co-workers (2000) correlated sperm DNA fragmentation with the endogenous generation of ROS, other studies showed correlations with the endogenous generation as well as exogenous stimulus of ROS. In addition to sperm DNA fragmentation, oxidative stress has
been implicated in impaired sperm functional competence, including poor fertilization rates in IVF. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause peroxidative
damage to the plasma membrane, furthermore, ROS are also known to attack DNA, inducing strand breaks and other oxidative based damage in human spermatozoa. DNA damage of mammalian spermatozoa, induced by free radicals, has also been associated with antioxidant depletion in the seminal plasma,
presence of transition metals in the sperm culture medium, leukocyte contamination,
redox cycling xenobiotics and testicular heating
Thus, it is important to select morphologically normal sperm by an operator (ICSI) to significantly reduce the risk of injecting sperm with fragmented DNA into the oocyte.