Sperm DNA fragmentation: etiology, pathogenesis, the influence on reproductive function

Abstract

The literature review of sperm DNA fragmentation is evaluated. Russian and foreign literary data over the past 10 years, including fundamental researching of the evaluation of the gametes genome integrity, are analyzed. The main etiological factors and the possible reasons of the DNA breaks formation on the different stages of spermatogenesis are described. The influence of the sperm oxidative stress reaction to the DNA integrity is analyzed. The relationship between DNA fragmentation of spermatozoa pregnancy and live birth rates in the assisted reproductive techniqueare noted. Risk of the recurrent pregnancy losses in male infertility cases with the sperm DNA damage is presented. Review confirms the significant prognostic value of sperm DNA fragmentation detection in infertility cases. Further studies in evaluation of pathogenesis of sperm DNA have a clinical interest to reproductive health physicians.