Impact of alcohol and cigarette smoking consumption in male fertility potential: Looks at lipid peroxidation, enzymatic antioxidant activities and sperm DNA damage

Abstract

Alcohol intake and cigarette smoking are the major lifestyle factors with negative impact on fertility. We were interested to evaluate the negative impact of these factors on oxidative stress (OS), enzymatic antioxidant activity (EAO) of spermatozoa and on its DNA damage. This study included 108 male infertile patients with normal range of sperm conventional parameters but with unexplained infertility in assisted reproductive technologies programme. Firstly, OS was analysed based on lipid peroxidation (MDA) and EAO which included catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione reductase (GR). Secondly, we evaluated DNA fragmentation by TUNEL assay and chromatin decondensation by aniline blue colouration. The whole lot was divided into four groups: control (nonalcoholic and nonsmoker patients), alcohol group, smoking group and alcohol-smoking group. The results showed, in three last groups compared to control an increased CAT, SOD and GR activities with high MDA level especially in smoking and alcohol-smoking group. The latter showed the highest values of DNA fragmentation and chromatin decondensation (31% and 39%) to exceed DNA damage normal range. Indeed, smoking and alcohol intake lead to increase EAO due to long-term unbalanced antioxidant/oxidation ratio with high OS which cause consequently sperm DNA damage calling in need by urgency to change the lifestyle behaviour.

Sperm DNA Fragmentation: A New Guideline for Clinicians

“…Cigarette smoking negatively impacts DNA integrity www.wjmh.org [88][89][90][91] due to tobacco metabolites [92] such as nicotine [93], cadmium [79,94], lead [79,80,95] and benzopyrene [96]. Alcohol consumption can also increase SDF and cause apoptosis [97][98][99]. Electromagnetic waves, particularly from cell phones, increase mitochondrial ROS production and DNA adduct formation causing DNA damage [100][101][102].…”

“…Exposure to environmental and lifestyle factors have far-reaching implications on male fertility. Current data has consistently associated smoking with higher SDF values when compared to non-smokers [91,99,191,215], however no study has yet evaluated the impact of smoking cessation on SDF. There have also been numerous environmental factors such as airborne pollutants, ionizing radiation, and pesticides linked with increased SDF values [74,82,193,216,217].…”

Increasing the Chances of Natural Conception: Opinion Statement from the the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations - FEBRASGO - Committee of Gynecological Endocrinology

“…[58][59][60][61] The literature demonstrates decreased chances of pregnancy, increased spontaneous miscarriage rates, and earlier onset of menopause in smoking women when compared with non-smokers. 12,[62][63][64][65] In smoking men, semen quality maybe impaired by a decrease in sperm count, an increase in malformed gametes, and possible aggression to sperm DNA. 12,[63][64][65] It must be stressed that there are no large-scale, randomized, clinical trials examining the effect of cigarette smoking on fertility.…”

“…12,[62][63][64][65] In smoking men, semen quality maybe impaired by a decrease in sperm count, an increase in malformed gametes, and possible aggression to sperm DNA. 12,[63][64][65] It must be stressed that there are no large-scale, randomized, clinical trials examining the effect of cigarette smoking on fertility. Even though scientific unanimity is not obtained, the data accumulated to date support the value of the preventive approach to infertility, and for this reason, discourage smoking or exposure to smoking for men and women attempting pregnancy, 66 even when ART is recommended.…”

Effect of life style behaviors on assisted reproductive techniques (ART)

“…Lifestyle factors, including age while initiating a family, nutritional status, weight control, exercise, psychological stress, smoking, drug use, consumption of alcohol and caffeine, environmental and occupational exposures, preventative care, and other behaviors are modifiable and might affect fertility [2] . Lifestyle is sometimes held to be associated with infertilitysmoking, alcohol intake, drug use and even over exercise [5] .…”