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Relationship between apoptotic markers in semen from fertile men and demographic, hormonal and seminal characteristics

Specht, Ina O. ; Spano, Marcello ; Hougaard, Karin S. ; Manicardi, Gian C. ; Bizzaro, Davide ; Toft, Gunnar ; Giwercman, Aleksander LU and Bonde, Jens-Peter E. (2012) In Asian Journal of Andrology 14(6). p.890-896
Abstract
Apoptosis in the testis has two putative roles during normal spermatogenesis; limitation of the germ cell population to numbers that can be supported by the Sertoli cells, and, possibly, selective depletion of meiotic and postmeiotic abnormal germ cells. We investigated the demographic and biological correlates of the pro-apoptotic marker Fas and the anti-apoptotic marker Bcl-xL in sperm cells of fertile men. Six hundred and four men from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine were consecutively enrolled during their pregnant wife's antenatal visits. Semen analysis was performed as recommended by the World Health Organization. Immunofluorescence coupled to flow cytometry was utilized for detection of apoptotic markers in the sperm cell. DNA damage... (More)
Apoptosis in the testis has two putative roles during normal spermatogenesis; limitation of the germ cell population to numbers that can be supported by the Sertoli cells, and, possibly, selective depletion of meiotic and postmeiotic abnormal germ cells. We investigated the demographic and biological correlates of the pro-apoptotic marker Fas and the anti-apoptotic marker Bcl-xL in sperm cells of fertile men. Six hundred and four men from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine were consecutively enrolled during their pregnant wife's antenatal visits. Semen analysis was performed as recommended by the World Health Organization. Immunofluorescence coupled to flow cytometry was utilized for detection of apoptotic markers in the sperm cell. DNA damage was assessed by flow cytometry using both the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay. The percentage of Fas-positive sperm cells was higher in men with high total sperm count (P<0.01), more motile sperms (P=0.04) and fewer sperm head defects (P=0.05). These associations were consistent within and across study regions. Furthermore, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and sexual hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were significantly negatively correlated with Fas within and across regions as well. The data indicated no association between the anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL marker and semen or personal characteristics. The finding of Fas-positive sperm cells associated with better semen quality in a cohort of spouses of pregnant women seems different from previous data obtained in infertile men and warrants further investigation to clarify the biological significance of sperm apoptotic markers. Asian Journal of Andrology (2012) 14, 890-896; doi: 10.1038/aja.2012.76; published online 15 October 2012 (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
apoptosis, Bcl-x protein, Fas-associated death domain protein, fertility, sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), spermatozoa, TUNEL, assay
in
Asian Journal of Andrology
volume
14
issue
6
pages
890 - 896
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • wos:000310790500022
  • scopus:84869020544
  • pmid:23064689
ISSN
1008-682X
DOI
10.1038/aja.2012.76
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ac6091f2-28d4-43fd-acbb-90ff516b756d (old id 3244172)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:23:10
date last changed
2022-01-25 22:41:17
@article{ac6091f2-28d4-43fd-acbb-90ff516b756d,
  abstract     = {{Apoptosis in the testis has two putative roles during normal spermatogenesis; limitation of the germ cell population to numbers that can be supported by the Sertoli cells, and, possibly, selective depletion of meiotic and postmeiotic abnormal germ cells. We investigated the demographic and biological correlates of the pro-apoptotic marker Fas and the anti-apoptotic marker Bcl-xL in sperm cells of fertile men. Six hundred and four men from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine were consecutively enrolled during their pregnant wife's antenatal visits. Semen analysis was performed as recommended by the World Health Organization. Immunofluorescence coupled to flow cytometry was utilized for detection of apoptotic markers in the sperm cell. DNA damage was assessed by flow cytometry using both the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay. The percentage of Fas-positive sperm cells was higher in men with high total sperm count (P&lt;0.01), more motile sperms (P=0.04) and fewer sperm head defects (P=0.05). These associations were consistent within and across study regions. Furthermore, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and sexual hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were significantly negatively correlated with Fas within and across regions as well. The data indicated no association between the anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL marker and semen or personal characteristics. The finding of Fas-positive sperm cells associated with better semen quality in a cohort of spouses of pregnant women seems different from previous data obtained in infertile men and warrants further investigation to clarify the biological significance of sperm apoptotic markers. Asian Journal of Andrology (2012) 14, 890-896; doi: 10.1038/aja.2012.76; published online 15 October 2012}},
  author       = {{Specht, Ina O. and Spano, Marcello and Hougaard, Karin S. and Manicardi, Gian C. and Bizzaro, Davide and Toft, Gunnar and Giwercman, Aleksander and Bonde, Jens-Peter E.}},
  issn         = {{1008-682X}},
  keywords     = {{apoptosis; Bcl-x protein; Fas-associated death domain protein; fertility; sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA); spermatozoa; TUNEL; assay}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{890--896}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Asian Journal of Andrology}},
  title        = {{Relationship between apoptotic markers in semen from fertile men and demographic, hormonal and seminal characteristics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/aja.2012.76}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/aja.2012.76}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}