Tesarik Jan, Greco Ermanno, Mendoza Carmen
MAR&Gen, Molecular Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Gracia 36, 18002 Granada, Spain.
Hum Reprod. 2004 Mar;19(3):611-5. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deh127. Epub 2004 Jan 29.
It is known that repeated failure of assisted reproduction treatment (ART) can be due to a paternal effect. This study was undertaken to analyse the possible relationship between ART failure and sperm DNA fragmentation.
Zygote morphology and the percentage of spermatozoa with fragmented DNA (assessed by TUNEL) were compared in two groups using donor oocytes for ICSI attempts. The experimental group consisted of 18 infertile couples who had each undergone three previous failed ART attempts. The control group included 18 randomly selected infertile couples undergoing their first ICSI attempt. Both groups used sibling oocytes from the same donors.
In 10 couples of the experimental group, the adverse paternal effect was evident as early as the zygote stage. This early paternal effect was not associated with sperm DNA fragmentation. In eight couples of the experimental group, the adverse paternal effect did not produce any perceptible deterioration of zygote morphology. However, this late paternal effect was associated with an increased percentage of spermatozoa with fragmented DNA.
Early paternal effect can compromise ART outcomes in the absence of increased sperm DNA fragmentation. Evaluation of sperm DNA integrity is useful to detect late paternal effect, which is not associated with morphological abnormalities at the zygote and early cleavage stages.
已知辅助生殖治疗（ART）反复失败可能是由于父方因素。本研究旨在分析ART失败与精子DNA碎片化之间的可能关系。
在两组使用供体卵母细胞进行ICSI尝试的研究中，比较了受精卵形态和DNA碎片化精子的百分比（通过TUNEL评估）。实验组由18对不育夫妇组成，他们之前均经历了3次ART尝试失败。对照组包括18对随机选择的首次进行ICSI尝试的不育夫妇。两组均使用来自相同供体的同胞卵母细胞。
在实验组的10对夫妇中，早在受精卵阶段父方不良效应就很明显。这种早期父方效应与精子DNA碎片化无关。在实验组的8对夫妇中，父方不良效应并未导致受精卵形态出现任何明显恶化。然而，这种晚期父方效应与DNA碎片化精子百分比增加有关。
在精子DNA碎片化未增加的情况下，早期父方效应会损害ART结局。评估精子DNA完整性有助于检测晚期父方效应，晚期父方效应与受精卵和早期卵裂阶段的形态异常无关。
