Department of Reproductive Biotechnology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences & Technology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, (IAUPS), Tehran, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 13;9(1):4336. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40707-2.
Varicocele, defined as enlarged varicose veins in the scrotum, is the most common identifiable cause of male infertility. There are significant correlations between oxidative stress and varicocele-related infertility due to testicular hyperthermia, which can result in low sperm function. In addition, recent excessive oxidative stress can affect sperm telomere length and integrity of sperm DNA. Therefore, we assessed sperm telomere length as a potential marker of paternal genome integrity and leukocyte telomere length as an internal control (real-time PCR), along with sperm chromatin status (TUNEL and chromomycin A3 assay), and lipid peroxidation (Bodipy probe) in 18 infertile men with grade II or III varicocele, and 20 fertile men. Means of sperm parameters, sperm and leukocyte telomere length were significantly lower, while means of sperm DNA fragmentation, protamine deficiency, and lipid peroxidation were significantly higher in infertile men with varicocele compared to fertile men. Therefore, shortened telomere length in sperm and leukocytes is likely associated with increased oxidative stress related to the state of varicocele, which also accounts for increase in sperm DNA fragmentation. Thus, assessment of leukocyte telomere length could be taken as an indicator of antioxidant capacity in an individual, which also affects sperm function.
精索静脉曲张是阴囊内迂曲扩张的静脉团，是男性不育最常见的可识别病因。由于睾丸过热，精索静脉曲张与不育之间存在显著的氧化应激相关性，这可能导致精子功能低下。此外，最近过多的氧化应激会影响精子端粒长度和精子 DNA 的完整性。因此，我们评估了精子端粒长度作为父系基因组完整性的潜在标志物，白细胞端粒长度作为内部对照（实时 PCR），以及精子染色质状态（TUNEL 和 Chromomycin A3 测定）和脂质过氧化（Bodipy 探针）在 18 名患有 II 级或 III 级精索静脉曲张的不育男性和 20 名生育男性中。与生育男性相比，精索静脉曲张不育男性的精子参数、精子和白细胞端粒长度平均值显著降低，而精子 DNA 碎片化、顶体蛋白缺乏和脂质过氧化平均值显著升高。因此，精子和白细胞端粒长度缩短可能与精索静脉曲张状态下的氧化应激增加有关，这也导致精子 DNA 碎片化增加。因此，白细胞端粒长度的评估可以作为个体抗氧化能力的指标，这也会影响精子功能。
