Evidence of increased chromosomal instability in infertile males after exposure to mitomycin C and caffeine.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the genetic instability of 11 fertile and 25 infertile men.


METHODS
The methodology of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) was applied to cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes, and the levels of SCEss were analyzed as a quantitative index of genotoxicity, along with the values of the mitotic index (MI) and the proliferation rate index (PRI) as qualitative indices of cytotoxicity and cytostaticity, respectively. The genotoxic and antineoplastic agent, mitomycin C (MMC), and caffeine (CAF)--both well-known inhibitors of DNA repair mechanism--were used in an attempt to induce chromosomal instability in infertile men, so as to more easily detect the probable underlying damage on DNA.


RESULTS
Our experiments illustrated that infertile men, compared with fertile ones, demonstrated a statistically significant DNA instability in peripheral blood lymphocytes after being exposed simultaneously to MMC and CAF.


CONCLUSIONS
The current study showed vividly that there was genetic instability in infertile men which probably contributes to the development of an impaired reproductive capacity.
Laboratory of Genetics, Demokritus University of Thrace, Medical School, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece.
Fotini
F
Papachristou
Theodore
T
Lialiaris
Stavros
S
Touloupidis
Christos
C
Kalaitzis
Constantinos
C
Simopoulos
Nikolaos
N
Sofikitis
D000328:Adult; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000187:drug effects*; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008940:Mitotic Index; D012854:Sister Chromatid Exchange / Q000187:drug effects*
D002110:Caffeine; D016685:Mitomycin