Evaluation of Sperm DNA Fragmentation amongst Infertile Black Africans. A Nigerian Study

Abstract

Background: Male infertility is approaching an epidemic proportion. Almost 50% of all cases of infertility may be associated with a male factor. The diagnostic usefulness of sperm DNA integrity is now accessible as an additional tool to Seminal Fluid Analysis. Objective: To assess sperm DNA fragmentation index (SDFI) in male infertility and its relationship with obesity, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking among infertile Nigerians. Patients and Methods: Patients who presented for infertility at three health facilities of Nordica Fertility Center in Lagos, Asaba and Abuja cities in Nigeria. STATA 13 was used for student's t-test to compare the means of continuous variables among smokers and non-smokers and among alcohol consumers and non-consumers. Linear regression analysis was employed to assess the correlation between SDFI as dependent variable and some independent variables. Results: There was no significant difference in the SDFI of men aged <40 years compared to older men. There was also no significant difference in the proportion of men with SDFI of <25% and of ≥25% regardless of their age group. The mean SDFI of men with normal BMI (30.8%) was significantly lower (t = −1.80, P-value = 0.04) than that of obese men (30.2%). Obese men were 2.12 times as likely to have SDFI ≥25% compared to normal weight men (χ 2-2.16, P-value = 0.14, OR = 2.12, 95% CI: 0.77, 5.80). Mean SDFI of men who consume alcohol (37.1%) was significantly higher (t = −1.97, P-value = 0.03) than that of those who did not consume alcohol. Although Pearson's correlation matrix (r) indicated that sperm DNA fragmentation index was positively correlated with history of infertility (r = 0.01), groin surgery (r = 0.04), mumps (r = 0.04) and sexually transmitted illness (r = 0.04), however the degree of correlation was not significant (P-value ≥ 0.5

Frequency of Monthly Ejaculation at Sexual Intercourse, DNA Fragmentation Index and Fertilization Rate among Sperm Donors and Fertility-Challenged Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: Paper 2

“…The determination of human sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI %) has been rendered in our earlier paper [10]. Included in this study were all patients who presented for sperm donation, who consulted for male infertility management within the study period and those who gave informed consent.…”

Frequency of Monthly Ejaculation at Sexual Intercourse, DNA Fragmentation Index and Fertilization Rate among Sperm Donors and Fertility-Challenged Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: Paper 1

“…Conventional seminal fluid analysis was performed according to WHO guidelines [9] to detect semen volume, total sperm count, motility, and morphology as reported earlier [8]. The determination of human sperm DFI (%) was reported in our earlier paper [10]. Briefly, SCD test was performed according to Fernandez et al, [11] using the Halosperm® kit (INDAS Laboratories, Madrid, Spain).…”

Male Infertility: Aetiology and Management in Contemporary Practice

“…There are several tests used to evaluate sperm DNA fragmentation such as sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCD) and sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). Infertile men especially oligospermic, obese and alcoholics have been shown to have a higher percentage of fragmented DNA [20].…”