DNA integrity on early embryonic development

The effect of DNA integrity of spermatozoa on early embryonic development.

Abnormalities in sperm DNA can be assessed by the sperm DNA fragmentation test. Numerous studies have shown that there is a strong effect of sperm DNA damage on the outcome of in vitro fertilization, including reduced fertilization, reduced embryo quality and reduced rate of cell division, reduced number of embryos developing in blastocysts, and reduced growth of blastocysts, the rate of embryos that stop developing as well as the reduction in the rate of implantation and pregnancy.

The question posed in the present study was whether sperm DNA damage affects early embryonic development. The results of the study showed that the increased number of damaged DNA negatively affects the quality of embryos starting from the 2nd day of early embryonic development and continues after embryo transfer, resulting in reduced implantation and pregnancy rates.

The effect of damaged DNA of spermatozoa becomes more apparent after transcriptional activation in the zygote. The prolonged paternal effect on the developing fetus may be due to the presence of the repair mechanism of the oocyte, which tries to correct the damaged paternal chromatin.

Paternal influence of sperm DNA integrity on early embryonic development. Simon L, Murphy K, Shamsi MB, Liu L, Emery B, Aston KI, Hotaling J, Carrell DT. Hum Reprod. 2014 Sep 8.