Simultaneous Vitality and DNA-fragmentation measurement in spermatozoa of smokers and non-smokers

Abstract

Background: Because cigarette smoke is a powerful ROS producer, we hypothesized that the spermatozoa of smokers would be more at risk of having increased DNA fragmentation than spermatozoa of non-smoking men. Methods: A Cross-Sectional Study was performed on consenting smokers and non-smokers, consulting in an infertility clinic for routine sperm analysis. The application of a novel TUNEL assay coupled to a vitality marker, LIVE/DEAD®, allowed both DNA fragmentation and viability measurement within spermatozoa of participants to be analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: The coupled vitality-DNA fragmentation analysis revealed that non-smokers and smokers respectively presented medians of 3.6% [0.6-36.8] and 3.3% [0.9-9.6] DNA fragmented spermatozoa among the living spermatozoa population (p>0.05). Conclusion: No deleterious effect of smoking on spermatozoa was found in our study. More studies concerning potential mutagenic capacities of cigarette smoke on spermatozoa are necessary. In addition, the coupled vitality-DNA fragmentation analysis may orient Assisted Reproductive Technologies teams when confronted with patients having a high percentage of DNA-fragmented living spermatozoa. © 2014 Clinical Cytometry Society.