CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Laboratoire AMP-CECOS, F-63003 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
UMR 1240 INSERM, IMoST, Université Clermont Auvergne, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Genes (Basel). 2023 May 3;14(5):1039. doi: 10.3390/genes14051039.
Correlations were reported between sperm telomere length (STL) and male fertility, sperm DNA fragmentation, and oxidation. Sperm freezing is widely used for assisted reproductive techniques, fertility preservation, and sperm donation. However, its impact on STL remains unknown. For this study, semen surplus from patients who underwent routine semen analysis were used. The impact of slow freezing on STL was analyzed by performing qPCR before and after freezing. Sperm populations with different STL were evaluated using Q-FISH. The relationship between sperm DNA oxidation, DNA fragmentation, and STL was assessed in fresh and frozen sperm samples. No significant impact of slow freezing on STL was observed, neither measured by qPCR nor Q-FISH. However, Q-FISH allowed for the distinguishing of sperm populations with different STLs within individual sperm samples. Slow freezing induced different STL distributions for some of the analyzed sperm samples, but no correlation was found between STL and sperm DNA fragmentation or oxidation. Slow freezing does not alter STL despite increasing sperm DNA oxidation and fragmentation. As STL alterations could be transmitted to offspring, the lack of impact of the slow freezing method on STL ensures the safety of this procedure.
精子端粒长度（STL）与男性生育力、精子 DNA 碎片化和氧化之间存在相关性。精子冷冻广泛应用于辅助生殖技术、生育力保存和精子捐赠。然而，其对 STL 的影响尚不清楚。在这项研究中，使用了常规精液分析患者的多余精液。通过在冷冻前后进行 qPCR 分析，研究了慢速冷冻对 STL 的影响。使用 Q-FISH 评估了具有不同 STL 的精子群体。在新鲜和冷冻精子样本中评估了精子 DNA 氧化、DNA 碎片化和 STL 之间的关系。qPCR 和 Q-FISH 均未观察到慢速冷冻对 STL 有显著影响。然而，Q-FISH 允许在单个精子样本中区分具有不同 STL 的精子群体。慢速冷冻会导致部分分析的精子样本的 STL 分布不同，但 STL 与精子 DNA 碎片化或氧化之间没有相关性。尽管慢速冷冻会增加精子 DNA 氧化和碎片化，但不会改变 STL。由于 STL 的改变可能会传递给后代，因此慢速冷冻方法对 STL 没有影响，确保了该程序的安全性。
