Early apoptotic changes in human spermatozoa and their relationships with conventional semen parameters and sperm DNA fragmentation

• 来源期刊: 亚洲男性学杂志（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2008,（2）
• 页码范围: 227-235
• 页数: 9页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Aim: To investigate whether early apoptotic changes in spermatozoa can be significant markers for sperm quality.Methods: Two early apoptotic changes in the semen of 56 men were assessed using Annexin V (AN)/propidium iodide (PI) staining for phosphatidylserine externalization and JC-1 staining for mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). The results were compared with conventional semen parameters and DNA fragmentation identified using the TUNEL assay. Results: The different labeling patterns in the bivariate Annexin V/PI analysis identified four distinc-tive spermatozoa populations. The percentage of AN-/PI- spermatozoa positively correlated with conventional semen parameters and MMP, but negatively correlated with TUNEL (+) spermatozoa. As for the AN-/PI+ fraction, we found an opposite result in comparison to AN-/PI- spermatozoa. The level of early apoptotic AN+/PI- spermatozoa negatively correlated with MMP and sperm motility. The level of late apoptotic AN+/PI+ spermatozoa negatively correlated with conventional semen parameters and MMP, and positively correlated with TUNEL (+) spermatozoa. MMP positively correlated with conventional semen parameters, but negatively correlated with TUNEL (+) spermatozoa. Conclusion:Although early apoptotic AN+/PI- spermatozoa only negatively correlates with sperm motility, the differences in proportion of each subpopulation of spermatozoa (especially, the percentage of AN-/PI-spermatozoa), and decreased MMP might be significant markers for diagnosing male infertility. They possibly bring additional information to predict the outcome of in vitro fertilization.