Detection of DNA fragmentation in infertile men with immotile short tail sperm (ISTS) referred to Royan institute

Background: Male infertility is correlated with sperm morphology and sperm DNA damage, which are completely different from that of fertile individuals. Immotile short tail sperm (ISTS) is a rarely described morphologic disorder of spermatozoa that is characterized by tails of reduced length in 70%–100% of sperm, with defective axonemes. Moreover, sperm DNA fragmentation is shown to be associated with teratozospermia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the DNA fragmentation in men with ISTS referred to Royan Institute.Methods: The semen samples obtained from 30 men with normal spermogram and 30 patients with short tail sperm defect. DNA fragmentation were analysed by sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and terminal desoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate biotin nick-end labeling assay (tunel) respectively.Result: The mean (±SD) of sperm with DNA fragmentation was significantly higher in immotile short tail sperm compared with control group, as measured by TUNEL assay (10.4516± 4.60318 versus 7.0333± 2.85854, PConclusion: Studies on correlations between sperm morphology and DNA integrity in patients with abnormal sperm morphology, especially patients with ISTS, are relatively rare. To our knowledge, the present study is one of the few studies which analyzed the relationships between sperm deformity rate and DNA integrity in men with short tail sperm. The results showed a positive correlation between abnormal sperm morphology and DNA fragmentation index.

Keywords:

DNA fragmentation , Immotile short tail sperm , SCSA , TUNEL assay , Teratozospermia