Introduction: Varicocele is considered as a common cause of male infertility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of varicocelectomy on SPERM parameters, SPERM membrane integrity and SPERM nuclear maturity. Materials and Methods: In this study along with routine semen analysis, hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST), and aniline blue staining for assessment of membrane integrity and nuclear maturity was carried out on 20 patients before operation as well as 45 and 90 days after it. Result: The analysis of the data showed an improvement in total SPERM concentration and morphology after operation (P<0.05). SPERM nuclear maturity also showed a significant improvement after varicocelectomy, however no change was observed in mean HOST score before and after varicocelectomy. Conclusion: Varicocele impairs semen parameters and to certain extent SPERM nuclear maturity, however it does not have any effect on membrane integrity. The improvement in semen parameters specially SPERM density, morphology, and nuclear maturity might improve pregnancy rate after varicocelectomy.

Background: To evaluate the effect of cord injury on SPERM parameters and DNA CHROMATIN status.Materials and Methods: Data were collected from men referred to Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Yazd, Iran. Thirty infertile men with the presence of any level of spinal cord injury (SCI) were compared with 30 healthy donors with definite fertility and normal SPERM parameters. SPERM CHROMATIN integrity was assessed using aniline blue (AB), chromomycin A3 (CMA3), toluidine blue (TB), and acridine orange (AO) assays. The rate of apoptotic SPERMatozoa was evaluated with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) staining.Results: SPERM concentration, motility, and morphology in men with SCI were significantly decreased compared with control group (p<0.05). In addition, with regard to cytochemical staining and TUNEL test, the rate of reacted SPERMatozoa was increased significantly in SCI group when compared with the controls (p<0.05). The majority of AB, TB, AO, and CMA3-reacted SPERMatozoa were higher than the “cut-off” value in men with SCI, as were the number of apoptotic SPERMatozoa stained with TUNEL.Conclusion: Results showed that SCI disturbs SPERM parameters, nuclear maturity, and DNA integrity of SPERMatozoa.Therefore, the production of SPERMatozoa with less condensed CHROMATIN and more apoptotic rate increases after cord injury and this may be one possible cause of infertility following SCI.

Background and Aim: SPERM cryopreservation is a common technique used for management of male infertility. But this method has detrimental effects on SPERM DNA and CHROMATIN quality. Evaluation of different markers associated with the health of genetic material of SPERM is beneficial for determination of the fertility of SPERM. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of SPERM CHROMATIN CONDENSATION on frozen-thawed SPERM DNA integrity in normozooSPERMic men. Material and Methods: In this experimental study, 30 semen samples from normozoSPERMia men were cryopreserved for two weeks with a common technique used in most infertility centers, at-196 ° C and then thawed. Samples before and after freezing were evaluated for abnormal CHROMATIN CONDENSATION, DNA denaturation and DNA fragmentation by toluidine blue (TB) staining, acridine orange (AO) staining and SPERM CHROMATIN dispersion (SCD) test respectively. Results: Before freezing, we found a significant correlation only between abnormal CHROMATIN CONDENSATION (evaluated by TB) and DNA denaturation (assessed by AO) (p < 0. 05). While after cryopreservation correlation was found between abnormal CHROMATIN CONDENSATION and DNA denaturation and fragmentation (p < 0. 05). Conclusion: Abnormal CHROMATIN CONDENSATION can make DNA susceptible to denaturation and fragmentation.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the possible relationship between SPERM DNA integrity and CHROMATIN packaging evaluated by cytochemical assays, traditional SPERM parameters and recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) of unknown origin.Materials and Methods: In this cohort study, 40 couples with a history of RSA and 40 couples with proven fertility were considered as case and control groups respectively.The semen samples of all husbands were analysed for SPERM parameters and also SPERM CHROMATIN and DNA integrity assessed using cytochemical tests including aniline blue (AB), chromomycin A3 (CMA3), toluidine blue (TB), acridine orange (AOT) and nuclear CHROMATIN stability assay.Results: Among different SPERM parameters, only slow motility was significantly different between the two groups. In SPERM CHROMATIN evaluations, there were significant differences between the two groups in all of the tests. In addition, the majority of semen samples in RSA patients exhibited upper percentages of abnormal SPERMatozoa than the cut-off values regarding different cytochemical assays.Conclusion: Our study showed that in the cases of RSA, slow motility had a significant reduction in comparison with controls and also SPERMatozoa of men from RSA group had less CHROMATIN CONDENSATION and poorer DNA integrity than SPERMatozoa that obtained from fertile men with no history of RSA.

Objective: The incidence rate of testicular cancer among young males is high. Co-administration of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin (BEP) has increased survival rate of patients with testicular cancer. Although BEP is one of the most effective treatment for testicular cancer, but it severely affects the reproductive system that ultimately leads to infertility. In addition to its antioxidant activity, zinc has an important role in progression of SPERMiogenesis. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of zinc on SPERM parameters, CHROMATIN CONDENSATION and testicular structure after BEP treatment.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 40 male rats were divided into 4 groups (control, BEP, BEP+zinc and zinc) and examined for 2 SPERMatogenesis periods (i.e.18 weeks). The rats in BEP and BEP+zinc group were treated with BEP at appropriate doses (0.75, 7.5, and 1.5 mg/kg) for three cycles of three weeks. Zinc at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day was administered to BEP+zinc and zinc groups. After 18 weeks, we assessed SPERM parameters, and excessive histone in SPERM CHROMATIN using aniline blue staining, as well as testicular structure and germ line cells using periodic acid-Schiff staining.Results: After BEP treatment, significant decreases were observed in normal SPERM morphology, motility, and concentration, as well as alterations in rat SPERM CHROMATIN CONDENSATION and testicular tissue (P<0.001). Furthermore, after zinc consumption for 9 weeks, we observed significant improvements of SPERM parameters and CHROMATIN CONDENSATION as well as a significant retrieval of SPERMatogonia, leydig cells and tubular architecture (P<0.05).Conclusion: Zinc administration after chemotherapy with BEP in testicular cancer might be potentially useful in declining the off target consequence associated with oxidative stress.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM), primary or idiopathic, is a chronic disorder of the carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism, characterized through hyperglycemia and glycosuria. DM can involve male reproductive function at many levels. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is one of necessary elements in human and mammalian diet that is very important in fertility. Vitamin C prevent from gamets damage with free radicals along gametogenesis and fertilization. The aim of this study is to observe the protective effects of vitamin C on SPERM parameters (viability, count, morphology and motility) and evaluation of DNA integrity in diabetic mice.Materials and Methods: Totally twenty eight adult male Syrian mice were divided randomly into 4 groups (n=7).The animals of group 1 were considered as controls, group 2 were diabetic that received a single dose (200 mg/kg) streptozotocin (STZ) intra peritoneally, group 3 received vitamin C (10 mg/kg/daily, intra peritoneal) and group 4 were diabetic mice that received vitamin C (10 mg/kg/daily, intra peritoneal). After 35 days, the cauda epididymis of each mouse was dissected and placed in 1 mL of pre-warm Ham, s F10 culture medium for 30 min.The swim-out SPERMatozoa were analyzed for count, motility, morphology and viability. To evaluate the SPERM CHROMATIN quality and DNA integrity, the air-dried smears were fixed with specific fixative and then stained with cytochemical assays before microscopic examinations.Results: In SPERM analysis, all of the SPERM parameters were significantly differences between 4 groups (p<0.001). Regard to SPERM DNA/CHROMATIN quality, although, the results of toluidine blue (TB) and acridine orange (AO) tests showed statically significant differences between groups, but in aniline blue (AB) and chromomycin A3 (CMA3) staining, we didn’t see any significant differences (p>0.001) between them.Conclusion: Vitamin C, as a power antioxidant is able to balance the ROS effects of diabet on SPERM parameters and DNA integrity.