Dataset Information

Discordance between human sperm quality and telomere length following differential gradient separation/swim-up.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Strong evidence has suggested an important role of telomeres in meiosis, fertilization, and embryo development.

Purpose

To determine if sperm telomere length (STL) in sperm purified by differential gradient centrifugation followed by swim-up (selected STL) is correlated with sperm quality and clinical outcomes.

Methods

Relative selected STL was assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) in 78 consecutive assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments during 2017. Statistical analyses were performed in the totality of patients, and in normozoospermic and non-normozoospermic patients. These included correlations between selected STL and sperm quality parameters, embryological parameters (multivariable linear regression), and clinical parameters (multivariable logistic regression).

Results

No significant correlations were found between selected STL and sperm quality in the total population. However, selected STL was significantly correlated with total sperm count (r = 0.361; P = 0.039) and sperm DNA fragmentation-post-acrosomal region pattern (r = - 0.464; P = 0.030) in normozoospermic patients. No relation was observed between selected STL and clinical outcomes in any clinical group.

Conclusions

As the correlations observed in normozoospermic patients were not representative of the whole heterogeneous population, differences in the sperm characteristics of the study population may lead to discrepant results when evaluating the association of STL with sperm quality. Since the total population selected STL was not related with sperm quality and with clinical outcomes, results do not support the use of selected STL measurement to evaluate the reproductive potential of the male patient or to predict the success rates of ART treatments.

SUBMITTER: Lopes AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7550483 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Sperm preparation in IVF cycles using density gradient centrifugation (DGC) in combination with swim-up (SU) has been widely adopted in reproductive centres worldwide. It is a fact that the sperm recovery rate following one DGC from poor semen samples (showing liquefaction defects/containing too many unresolvable clots or rare sperm) is relatively low. Our results showed that double DGC (DDGC) is effective at increasing the sperm recovery rate from poor semen samples. However, DDGC may increase the mechanical stress of sperm, thereby potentially impairing embryo development. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the safety of using sperm prepared by DDGC/SU for IVF cycles. In this study, we retrospectively analysed the data generated from a total of 529 IVF cycles (from June 2017 to June 2018), and these IVF cycles contributed 622 transfer cycles (from June 2017 to December 2018) in Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital. Of them, 306 IVF cycles and the related 355 transfer cycles (normal semen samples prepared by DGC/SU) were set as the normal group, while 223 IVF cycles and the related 267 transfer cycles (poor semen prepared by DDGC/SU) were set as the observation group. The main outcome measures, including the normal fertilization rate, top D3 embryo formation rate, blastocyte formation rate, clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate, birth weight and duration of pregnancy, were compared between the two groups. Compared to semen in the DGC/SU group, semen in the DDGC/SU group showed increased levels of the DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and reduced sperm concentration, percentage of progressive motility (PR) sperm, and percentage of normal morphology sperm. The indicators reflecting in vitro embryo development and clinical outcomes were similar in the DGC/SU group and DDGC/SU group, including the normal fertilization rate, top D3 embryo formation rate, blastocyte formation rate, pregnancy rate, implantation rate, spontaneous abortion rate, live birth rate, birth weight and duration of pregnancy. Furthermore, we found that the 1PN zygote formation rate was significantly lower in the DDGC/SU group than that in the DGC/SU group. We concluded that oocytes fertilized by sperm from poor semen samples separated by DDGC/SU achieved the same outcomes as oocytes fertilized by sperm from normal semen separated by DGC/SU, suggesting that DDGC/SU is an effective and safe method of sperm enrichment for poor semen samples in IVF. The main contribution of the present study is the verification of the effectiveness of DDGC/SU in improving sperm recovery from poor semen samples and the safety of using sperm prepared by DDGC/SU for IVF.