BACKGROUND Sperm chromatin structure is often impaired; mainly due to oxidative damage. Antioxidant treatments do not consistently produce fertility improvements and, when given at high doses, they might block essential oxidative processes such as chromatin compaction. This study was intended to assess the effect on male sub-fertility of a pure one carbon cycle nutritional support without stron...

Over the past 25 years, various methods have been developed to measure sperm DNA strand breaks in situ. Currently, there are four major tests of sperm DNA fragmentation, including the Comet, Tunel, sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and the acridine orange test (AOT). The Comet assay is a light microscope technique where the sperm cells are mixed with melted agarose and then placed on a gla...

Persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), the major metabolite of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), are stable lipophilic compounds widely found in the environment and in the general population. They can enter the food chain, and their negative impact on male reproduction is currently under active s...

BACKGROUND Recently, damage to the sperm DNA has been studied as it is associated with reduced fertilization rates, embryo quality, and pregnancy rates, also higher rates of spontaneous miscarriage. OBJECTIVE To develop a diagnostic method in predicting male infertility. MATERIAL AND METHODS The design of this study is cross-sectional. Data were retrieved from medical records of Yasmin IVF ...

The objective of the present study was to explore the potential relationships of ovine sperm chromatin integrity, quantified using the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), to the heat load of the scrotum and the discomfort felt by the animals because of fluctuations of microclimatic factors at different time periods before ejaculation. Ejaculates were collected once per week from five Chios ...

BACKGROUND Sperm DNA integrity (SDI) is an important factor in the prognosis of male fertility. Here we compare the toluidine blue (TB) image cytometry test, recently proposed by us for SDI assessment, with two other tests-the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and the terminal nick-end labelling (TUNEL) assay. METHODS Sperm samples from 35 men were evaluated for standard sperm parameters...

OBJECTIVE To examine clinical and laboratory variables to determine which, if any, predict improved semen parameters and pregnancy after varicocelectomy. METHODS Surgical logs were reviewed for men who underwent varicocele ligation for a fertility concern. Clinical, demographic, and laboratory data was obtained through medical chart review and paired with postoperative reproductive outcomes o...

Seminal plasma could have positive effects on boar semen after thawing. In the present study we investigated changes in the motility and chromatin structure in spermatozoa over 4h incubation (37°C) of boar semen thawed in the presence of 0%, 10% or 50% seminal plasma from good-fertility boars. Cryopreserved doses were used from seven males, three of which were identified as susceptible to post-...

BACKGROUND In humans, sperm DNA fragmentation rates have been correlated with sperm viability rates. Reduced sperm viability is associated with high sperm DNA fragmentation, while conversely high sperm viability is associated with low rates of sperm DNA fragmentation. Both elevated DNA fragmentation rates and poor viability are correlated with impaired male fertility, with a DNA fragmentation r...

Introduction and Aim: Idiopathic infertility accounts for at least 30% of all cases infertility, oxidative stress has been identified as a novel developing factor in idiopathic male infertility. Oxidative occurs when antioxidant defense mechanisms are outmatched by the creation reactive oxygen species (ROS). The purpose this research was to examine impact enzymatic antioxidants (catalase supero...