The evaluation of sperm DNA damage in patients with different varicocele grades

Year 2021, , 226 - 233, 31.12.2021

Özge Göktepe , Fazile Cantürk Tan , Figen Narin , Birkan Yakan

https://doi.org/10.30565/medalanya.849413

Abstract

Aim: Varicocele, abnormal dilatation of pampiniform venous plexus, is classified into three groups: 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. The aim of our research is to show the differences among the three different varicocele grades based on the results of their sperm DNA damage and blood biochemical parameters.

Methods: We examined 30 patients which were classified into three groups: Group 1 (healthy), Group 2 (grades 1 and 2) and Group 3 (grade 3). The semen samples were examined in terms of DNA damage via comet assay. The blood samples were assessed using catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels.

Results: According to the comet findings, Group 2 and Group 3 parameters were significantly higher than Group 1 (p < 0.01). In the biochemical findings, we observed decreased CAT and SOD activities and an increased MDA level for Group 2 and Group 3. In our research, we showed that grades 1 and 2 had significant DNA damage in terms of infertility as much as grade 3.

Conclusion: The results we derived indicate that the detection of DNA damage could be used as a predictor of infertility alongside routine semen and morphological analysis.

Keywords

spermatazoa, inferitlity, varicocele, DNA damage

Supporting Institution

Erciyes University scientific research projects coordination unit

Project Number

TYL-2013-4598

Thanks

Authors, thanks to Erciyes University, Medical Faculty and Urology Polyclinic for their contribution.

Farklı varikosel dereceli hastalarda sperm DNA hasarının değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Amaç: Pampiniform venöz pleksusun anormal dilatasyonu olan varikosel üç gruba ayrılır: 1., 2. ve 3. derece. Araştırmamızın amacı, sperm DNA hasarı sonuçlarına ve kan biyokimyasal parametrelerine göre üç farklı varikosel derecesi arasındaki farklılıkları göstermektir.

Yöntem: Grup 1 (sağlıklı), grup 2 (1. ve 2. derece) ve 3. grup (3. derece) olmak üzere üç gruba ayrılan 30 hastayı inceledik. Semen örnekleri comet testi ile DNA hasarı açısından incelendi. Kan örnekleri katalaz (CAT), süperoksit dismutaz (SOD) enzim aktiviteleri ve malondialdehit (MDA) seviyeleri kullanılarak değerlendirildi.

Bulgular: Comet bulgularına göre grup 2 ve grup 3 parametreleri grup 1'e göre anlamlı derecede yüksekti (p <0.01). Biyokimyasal bulgularda CAT ve SOD aktivitelerinin azaldığını ve grup 2 ve grup 3 için MDA düzeyinin arttığını gözlemledik. Araştırmamızda 1. ve 2. derece varikoselin infertilite açısından 3. derece kadar önemli DNA hasarına sahip olduğunu gösterdik.

Sonuç: Elde ettiğimiz sonuçlar, DNA hasarının saptanmasının, rutin semen ve morfolojik analizin yanı sıra infertilitenin bir prediktörü olarak kullanılabileceğini göstermektedir.

Keywords

spermatazoa, varikosel, İnfertilite, DNA hasarı

Project Number

TYL-2013-4598

References

• 1. Gurunath S, Pandian Z, Anderson RA, Bhattacharya S. Defining infertility a systematic review of prevalence studies. Hum Reprod Update. 2011;17(5):575-88. doi:10.1093/humupd/dmr015.
• 2. Craig JR, Jenkins TG, Carrell DT, Hotaling JM. Obesity, male infertility, and the sperm epigenome. Fertil Steril. 2017;107:848-59. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2017.02.115.
• 3. Kupis L, Dobronski PA, Radziszewski P. Varicocele as a source of male infertility – current treatment techniques Cent European J Urol 2015;68(3):365-70. doi: 10.5173/ceju.2015.642.
• 4. Agarwal A, Esteves SC. Varicocele and male infertility: current concepts and future perspectives. Asian J Androl. 2016;18(2):161-2. doi: 10.4103/1008-682X.172819.
• 5. Jensen CFS, Østergren P, Dupree JM, Ohl DA, Sønksen J, Fode M. Varicocele and male infertility. Nat Rev Urol. 2017;14(9):523-533. doi: 10.1038/nrurol.2017.98.
• 6. Kadıoglu A, Ortac M. The role of sperm DNA testing on male infertility. Transl Androl Urol. 2017; 6(Suppl 4):S600-3. doi: 10.21037/tau.2017.03.82.
• 7. Majzoub A, Agarwal A, Esteves SC. Sperm DNA fragmentation for the evaluation of male infertility: clinical algorithms. Transl Androl Urol. 2017;6(Suppl 4):S405-8. doi: 10.21037/tau.2017.03.93.
• 8. Wu GJ, Chang FW, Lee SS et al. Apoptosis-related phenotype of ejaculated spermatozoa in patients with varicocele. Fertil Steril. 2009;91(3):831-7. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.12.058.
• 9. Roque M, Esteves SC. Effect of varicocele repair on sperm DNA fragmentation: a review. Int Urol Nephrol. 2018;50(4):583-603. doi: 10.1007/s11255-018-1839-4.
• 10. Blumer CG, Restelli AE, Giudice PT et al. Effect of varicocele on sperm function and semen oxidative stress. BJU Int. 2012;109(2):259-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10240.x.
• 11. Mostafa T, Anis T, El Nashar A et al. Seminal plasma reactive oxygen species-antioxidants relationship with varicocele grade. Andrologia. 2012;44(1):66-69. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0272.2010.01111.x.
• 12. Altunoluk B, Efe E, Kurutas EB et al. Elevation of both reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzymes in vein tissue of infertile men with varicocele. Urol Int. 2012;88(1):102-6. doi: 10.1159/000332156.
• 13. Tanaka T, Kobori Y, Terai K, Inoue Y, Osaka A, Yoshikawa N, et al. Seminal oxidation–reduction potential and sperm DNA fragmentation index increase among infertile men with varicocele. Hum Fertil (Camb). 2020:1-5. doi: 10.1080/14647273.2020.1712747.
• 14. Vahidi S, Moein M, Nabi A, Narimani N. Effects of microsurgical varicocelectomy on semen analysis and sperm function tests in patients with different grades of varicocele: Role of sperm functional tests in evaluation of treatments outcome. Andrologia. 2018;50(8):e13069. doi: 10.1111/and.13069.
• 15. Johnson D, Sandlow J. Treatment of varicoceles: techniques and outcomes. Fertil Steril. 2017;108(3):378-384. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2017.07.020.
• 16. Akdag M, Dasdag S, Canturk F, Akdag M.Z. Exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic fields emitted from mobile phones induced DNA damage in human ear canal hair follicle cells. Electromagn Biol Med. 2018;37(2):66-75. doi: 10.1080/15368378.2018.1463246.
• 17. Ngo AD, Taylor R, Roberts CL, Nguyen TV. Association between Agent Orange and birth defects: systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 2006;35(5):1220–30. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyl038.
• 18. Nguyen TT, Trieu TS, Tran TO, Luong TLA. Evaluation of sperm DNA fragmentation index, Zinc concentration and seminal parameters from infertile men with varicocele. Andrologia. 2019;51(2):e13184. doi: 10.1111/and.13184.
• 19. Köksal T, Erdoğru T, Toptaş B et al. Effect of experimental varicocele in rats on testicular oxidative stress status. Andrologia. 2002;34(4):242-7. doi: 10.1046/j.1439-0272.2002.00500.x.
• 20. Cho CL, Esteves SC, Agarwal A. Novel insights into the pathophysiology of varicocele and its association with reactive oxygen species and sperm DNA fragmentation. Asian J Androl. 2016;18(2):186-93. doi: 10.4103/1008-682X.170441.
• 21. Allamaneni SS, Naughton CK, Sharma RK et al. Increased seminal reactive oxygen species levels in patients with varicoceles correlate with varicocele grade but not with testis size. Fertil Steril. 2004;82(6):1684-6. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2004.04.071.
• 22. Smith, R., Kaune, H., Parodi, D., Madariaga, M., Rios, R., Morales, I., Castro, A. Increased sperm DNA damage in patients with varicocele: relationship with seminal oxidative stress. Hum Reprod. 2005;21(4):986-93. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dei429.
• 23. Saleh R, Agarwal A, Nada E et al. Negative effects of increased sperm DNA damage in relation to seminal oxidative stress in men with idiopathic and male factor infertility. Fertil Steril. 2003;79 Suppl 3:1597-605. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(03)00337-6.
• 24. Agarwal A, Majzoub A, Esteves SC, Ko E, Ramasamy R, Zini A. Clinical utility of sperm DNA fragmentation testing: practice recommendations based on clinical scenarios. Transl Androl Urol. 2016;5(6):935-50. doi: 10.21037/tau.2016.10.03
• 25. Wang YJ, Zhang RQ, Lin YJ et al. Relationship between varicocele and sperm
DNA damage and the effect of varicocele repair: a meta-analysis. Reprod Biomed Online. 2012;25(3):307-14. doi: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2012.05.002.
• 26. Simon L, Murphy K, Shamsi MB et al. Paternal influence of sperm DNA integrity on early embryonic development. Hum Reprod. 2014;29(11):2402-12. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deu228.
• 27. Collins AR. The comet assay for DNA damage and repair: principles, applications, and limitations. Mol Biotechnol. 2004;26(3):249–61. doi: 10.1385/MB:26:3:249.