The Comparison of Sperm Parameters and DNA Damage among Infertile Men with Varicocele and Obesity

Subject Areas : Journal of Animal Biology

Mahshid Elahi ¹ , Vida Hojati ² , Mahmoud Hashemitabar ³ , Mahsa Afrough ⁴ , Hossain Pourkargar ⁵

1 - Department of Biology, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran
2 - Department of Biology, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran
3 - Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Research Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
4 - Reproductive Biology Research Group, Infertility Research and Treatment Center, Jihad University of Khuzestan, Ahvaz, Iran
5 - Department of Biology, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran

Received: 2022-03-13 Accepted : 2022-04-11 Published : 2022-11-22

Keywords: Obesity, Infertility, Sperm morphology, Varicocele, Sperm motility, DFI, Sperm count,

Abstract :

Varicocele and obesity are common causes of male infertility that negatively influence spermatogenesis. This study aims at investigating sperm parameters and the correlation between the amount of DNA damage in obese patients and patients with varicocele compared with normal subjects. Generally, there were 210 samples, which respectively included 95 semen samples from obese infertile men, 50 semen samples from infertile men with varicocele, and 65 normal men with an age range from 27 to 50 years who met the conditions to be included in the study. It was separated from other samples and the semen was analyzed based on the parameters of the World Health Organization (WHO). The fragility of sperm DNA was evaluated for the mentioned samples. Compared with normal subjects, obese infertile men showed a significant decrease in sperm count, sperm motility, sperm morphology and a significant increase in DNA damage (p < 0.001). Also, a significant negative correlation was observed between DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI) and sperm parameters in obese infertile men, so that with the increase in DFI, other parameters showed a decrease. In obese infertile subjects, DFI had a negative correlation with sperm parameters including number (r = -0.171), movement (r = -0.467) and sperm morphology (r = -0.314). Infertile people with varicocele compared with normal people, a significant decrease in sperm count, sperm motility, sperm morphology and a significant increase in DNA damage were observed. Also, a significant negative correlation was observed between parameters and DFI. In this way, with the increase in DFI, other parameters decreased. In varicocele patients, DFI had a negative correlation with sperm parameters including number (r = -0.466), movement (r = -0.413) and morphology (r = -0.484). The results showed that varicocele and obesity have a negative effect on the health of sperm DNA in addition to reducing the quality of sperm parameters. Also, a significant negative correlation was observed between the amount of DFI and sperm parameters, which shows that these items may adversely influence the process of spermatogenesis.  

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