Sperm parameters, DNA integrity, and protamine genes expression, in patients with diabetes mellitus

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder and the most common endocrine disorder that affects many human physiological systems and tissues, including the reproductive organs in men while the age of individual suffering this disease has been falling rapidly in recent years.Objective: The objective was to investigate the effect of DM on sperm parameters, chromatin quality, apoptosis as well as protamine genes expression profile in men with DM compared to controls.Materials and Methods: Sixty semen samples from non-diabetic controls (n=30) and diabetic case groups (n=30) were compared for sperm parameters, protamine’s transcripts and chromatin/DNA integrity using molecular and cytochemical assays.Results: The results showed remarkable lower percentages of sperm parameters in cases versus controls (p˂0.05). Despite the significant higher percentages of spermatozoa with AB+, CMA3+, and TUNEL+, no change was demonstrated regarding the protamine’s mRNA levels as well as P1/P2 ratios in cases than in controls. In contrast, remarkable positive correlations were demonstrated between the quantity of P1 and P2 transcripts (p<0.001).Conclusion: The data indicated DM not only causes a decrease in the quality of the sperm parameters but also affects the sperm maturation process by increasing the substantial implications in sperm DNA/chromatin levels of DM patients than normozoospermic controls.

Keywords:

Sperm , Protamine deficiency , Gene expression , Male Infertility , Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus