Impact of Maternal Age on the Repairing Capacity of Oocytes on Paternal DNA Damage

Abstract

Sperm DNA fragmentation is a primary cause of male infertility, affecting ART outcomes and success rates. Sperm has no DNA repair mechanisms because it is transcriptionally quiet. Oocytes’ repairing capacity is one of the suggested methods to overcome the situation. However, based on the hypothesis that oocyte age may also have an impact on this talent, we aimed to reveal the role of female age in repairing sperm DNA damage in our study. A total of 540 couples undergoing ICSI were grouped based on the maternal age, and the groups were further divided into two groups based on the severity of DNA damage rates, as the low (< 30% SDF) and high DNA fragmentation (≥ 30% SDF). Laboratory and clinical outcomes were compared between the groups. No significant differences were observed in younger patients (≤ 36 y) and patients between 37–40 years. However, when maternal age was > 40, significantly lower embryo and blastocyst quality, blastocyst development, pregnancy, and implantation rates were observed. Our findings suggest that older oocytes may have a reduced ability to repair sperm DNA damage, as demonstrated by poorer IVF outcomes of couples with higher SDF scores and advanced maternal age (≥ 40).