title: [Assays for assessment of sperm DNA integrity: relationships with fertility and conceptus quality].
abstract: Several assays are available for testing nuclear quality of spermatozoa, many of them allowing to define a DNA fragmentation index (DFI). Numerous recent studies on this subject agree on several points: negative correlations are observed between DFI and sperm characteristics. Concerning the relationships between DFI and artificial reproductive technologies, there are some disagreements about correlations between DFI and fertilization rates; conversely, in case of high DFI, both blastocyst formation rate and pregnancy rate are significantly reduced. Several authors have defined a threshold value for DFI, corresponding to an absence of pregnancy, or a very low pregnancy rate, for samples above this value. Unfortunately, there are no data available concerning the relationships between sperm DNA quality and abnormalities at birth.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de biologie de la reproduction, faculté de médecine, domaine Rockefeller, 8, avenue Rockefeller, 69373 Lyon 08, France. guerrin@rockefeller.univ-lyon1.fr
authors.forename: J-F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Guérin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benchaïb
mesh_terms: D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012099:Reproductive Techniques; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
vernacular_title: Tests d'exploration de la qualité nucléaire du spermatozoïde: relations avec la fertilité et la qualité du conceptus.