Correlation between sperm ultrastructure in infertile patients with abnormal sperm morphology and DNA damage

Abstract

This study explored the correlation between sperm ultrastructure in infertile patients with abnormal sperm morphology and DNA damage. Three unusual sperm morphologies were selected for the experimental group namely case 1 (95% headless sperm), case 2 (98% headless sperm), and case 3 (100% headless sperm), and the control group consisted of 2 subjects (20 and 15% headless sperm). For case 1, the patient was negative for sexually transmitted diseases and had normal semen plasma biochemistry, reproductive hormones, peripheral blood chromosomes, and azoospermia factor (AZF). The aneuploid rate of sperm chromosomes was 0.6%, and DNA damage index of sperm nuclei was 84.4%. The partner of this patient did not get pregnant after artificial reproductive technology assistance. For case 2, the aneuploid rate of sperm chromosomes was 0.8% and DNA damage index of sperm nuclei was 95%. This patient and his spouse did not choose assisted reproduction. For case 3, reproductive hormones, peripheral blood chromosomes and AZF were normal and the aneuploid rate of sperm chromosomes was 0.2%. The wife of this patient gave birth to a healthy baby after ova removal, fertilization and transplantation. For the control group, the aneuploid rate of sperm chromosomes and DNA damage index of sperm nuclei were approximately0.3 and 30%, respectively. To sum up, sperm ultrastructure of infertile patients suffering from unusual sperm morphology is associated with DNA damage to some extent and can cause infertility. However, pregnancy is still possible through intracytoplasmic sperm injection.