Sperm DNA fragmentation and total antiradical activity of sperm in men with exaggerated anamnesis

Various intracellular and extracellular stimuli can promote excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species and lead to detrimental effects on sperm function, in particular, damage to sperm DNA, thus often resulting into infertility. The aim of the study was to assess the degree of sperm DNA fragmentation by flow cytometry and to study total antiradical activity of sperm in men with infertility and chronic prostatitis using spectrophotometric technique. A total of 75 men were examined. The comparison group consisted of 45 men with chronic prostatitis beyond exacerbation. The observation group included 30 men with chronic prostatitis in remission state. We have found that in the subjects during the period of acute inflammation, pathological fragmentation of sperm DNA was revealed, being statistically significant (p = 0.004). It was registered 1.7 times more often than in the examined men during the remission of chronic prostatitis. Increased fragmentation of the sperm DNA was noted in 50% of men from comparison group. In the patients from observation group, the degree of sperm DNA fragmentation over reference ranges was observed in 80% of the subjects. In men diagnosed with chronic prostatitis at the exacerbation stage, there is a statistically significant (p <0.05) relationship between sperm DNA fragmentation and development of acute inflammatory process. It was shown that in the subjects from observation group, the mean value of antiradical sperm activity did not show statistically significant differences (p = 0.378) compared with results found in men from the comparison group. The presented results suggest a higher degree of sperm DNA fragmentation in the examined patients with chronic prostatitis at the stage of decompensation, which may point to excessively increased production of free radicals during the acute inflammatory process. Obviously, exacerbation of chronic prostatitis contributes to imbalance in the redox homeostatic system in men, thus creating prerequisites for excess of reactive oxygen species and significant fragmentation of sperm DNA. The identified changes, i.e., an increased sperm DNA fragmentation levels and a deficiency of total antiradical activity of sperm in men with chronic urogenital diseases, may play a pathogenetic role in occurrence and further development of infertility. The degree of sperm DNA fragmentation and markers of redox processes may serve as informative activity indices of the inflammatory process.