The oxidative stress (OS) and sperm DNA fragmentation have been associated
with sub-infertility in males and infertility due to a lack of means of protection and
defense (antioxidants) for spermatozoa and an increase in reactive oxygen spices
(ROS) related to wrong lifestyle (cigarettes and hookah) or what also known as
Shisha. The study included (90) men between the ages of (23-40) years, (60), infertile men who smoked cigarettes and hookahs. They were divided into two
groups, the first oligozoospermia and the second asthenozoospermia, according to
the guidelines of the World Health Organization for seminal fluid analysis (SFA),
5
th edition, WHO(2010). Each group included (30) smoking infertile males, with a
control group included (30) non-smoking fertile males. The study aimed to estimate the concentration level of Ascorbic Acid (AA) in the seminal plasma of two
groups of infertile men smoking cigarettes and hookahs using enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, with calculating the concentration of
Malondialdehyde (MDA) as well as estimating the percentage of sperm DNA
fragmentation (SDF) using sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD), Halo view. Compared with healthy fertile men of non-smokers of cigarettes and hookahs as one of
the biomarkers of oxidative stress in infertile men in Nineveh Governorate-Iraq.
The results indicated that there were significant differences at the probability level
(p<0.01) for the studied parameters (AA, MDA, SDF) compared to the control
group (fertile men). The results showed an increase in the percentage of sperm
DNA fragmentation with increasing the concentration of MDA in seminal plasma
and decreasing the concentration of AA. Cigarette and hookah smoking increased
the generation of ROS with a decrease in the water-soluble non-enzymatic antioxidant Ascorbic acid (AA) and thus increased the oxidative processes of the
plasma membranes of spermatozoa and the occurrence of oxidative stress and
impaired fertility and caused infertility.
Keywords: male infertility, oxidative stress, sperm DNA fragmentation, Ascorbic
acid, MDA.
Bionatura http://dx.doi.org/10.21931/RB/CSS/2023