Galdiero Giacomo, D'Anza Emanuele, de Angelis Cristina, Albarella Sara, Peretti Vincenzo, Pivonello Rosario, Ciotola Francesca
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, Via Delpino 1, CAP, 80137 Naples, Italy.
Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Division of Endocrinology, Unity of Andrology and Medicine of Reproduction and Male and Female Sexuality (FERTISEXCARES), University of Naples Federico II, CAP, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Vet Sci. 2021 Mar 17;8(3):50. doi: 10.3390/vetsci8030050.
Male infertility is an emerging problem in both humans and animals, and the knowledge of its causes is the first step to identifying new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In humans, alteration of sperm DNA methylation have been related to poor quality semen, impaired seminal parameters, azoospermia and reduced fertility. Although semen analysis is routinely used to evaluate the male reproductive potential in the canine species, no authors have attempted to relate semen characteristics to the sperm global DNA methylation (SGDM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the SGDM level in healthy dogs and to correlate it with semen parameters that are currently used in dog semen analyses. Conventional and unconventional (sperm DNA fragmentation and SGDM) seminal parameters of thirty dogs from different breeds were evaluated. A positive correlation was found between SGDM and sperm concentration (r = 0.41; < 0.05), and total sperm count (r = 0.61; < 0.001); SGDM was significantly lower in oligozoospermic vs non-oligozoospermic dogs (4.3% vs. 8.7%; < 0.005). Our findings suggest that SGDM levels are related to conventional seminal parameters, and could be used as a marker of testis function and spermatogenesis in dogs.
男性不育在人类和动物中都是一个新出现的问题，了解其病因是确定新的诊断和治疗策略的第一步。在人类中，精子DNA甲基化的改变与精液质量差、精液参数受损、无精子症和生育力降低有关。虽然精液分析通常用于评估犬类的雄性生殖潜力，但尚无作者尝试将精液特征与精子整体DNA甲基化（SGDM）联系起来。本研究的目的是评估健康犬的SGDM水平，并将其与目前用于犬精液分析的精液参数相关联。对来自不同品种的30只犬的常规和非常规（精子DNA碎片化和SGDM）精液参数进行了评估。发现SGDM与精子浓度（r = 0.41；<0.05）和总精子数（r = 0.61；<0.001）之间呈正相关；少精子症犬的SGDM显著低于非少精子症犬（4.3%对8.7%；<0.005）。我们的研究结果表明，SGDM水平与常规精液参数相关，可作为犬睾丸功能和精子发生的标志物。
