DNA fragmentation and chromatin denaturation in various sperm categories: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate how DNA fragmentation index (DFT) and chromatin denaturation index (CDI) relate to semen parameters across different types of male infertility, thereby improving the understanding and assessment of sperm quality.
Methods: A prospective and descriptive cohort study was conducted over two years at the Integrated Physiology Laboratory of the University of Carthage in collaboration with the Alyssa Fertility Group, Tunisia. A total of 163 participants were classified into five groups based on their semen parameters: normozoospermia, oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, teratozoospermia, and oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia. The normozoospermia group was selected from volunteers who had children. Semen samples were analyzed according to WHO guidelines. DFI was measured using Halosperm^® and CDI was tested using aniline blue staining.
Results: Both DFI and CDI were significantly higher in all infertility groups, with the oligozoospermia group showing the highest DFI and CDI. Negative correlations were found between DFI/CDI and sperm motility, concentration, and morphology in the affected groups. The normozoospermia group served as a control with the lowest DFI and CDI values.
Conclusions: DFI and CDI are increasingly recognized as important biomarkers for evaluating sperm quality in cases of male infertility. Their elevated levels in patients with oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, teratozoospermia, and oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia underscore their potential role in not only diagnosing male infertility but also in assessing the overall reproductive outcomes for affected individuals, thus guiding more effective treatment strategies.

Keywords

Male infertility / DNA fragmentation index / Chromatin denaturation index / Sperm parameters / Semen analysis

Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to the technical staff of Alyssa Fertility Group.

Funding

This study receives no extramural funding.

Authors’ contributions

Maroua Ben Rhouma collected the data, conducted the experiments, reviewed the literature, and prepared the manuscript. Hatem Bahri carried out the ethical procedure as well as contributed to the data collection. Mustapha Ben Khalifa contributed to the interpretation of the results and the statistical analysis. Mohsen Sakly reviewed the manuscript and coordinated the work. Khemais Ben Rhouma contributed to the overall planning and supervision of the research. Moncef Benkhalifa and Olfa Tebourbi contributed to the conception and design of the study. All contributing authors approved the final manuscript.

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