title: Differential clustering of sperm subpopulations in infertile males with clinical varicocele and carriers of rearranged genomes.
abstract: Some methods for determining sperm DNA fragmentation, such as the sperm  chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and the sperm chromatin dispersion test  (SCD), provide additional information about particular subgroups of  spermatozoa with specific irregularities. Thus, SCSA recognizes a specific  sperm subpopulation, the high-DNA stainability sperm subpopulation  (HDS), and SCD recognizes the so-called DNA-degraded sperm (DDS)  subpopulation. Although some studies associate the presence of these  subpopulations with specific aspects related to infertility, the relationship  between both sperm subpopulations and their preponderance in specific clinical  groups of infertile males has not been extensively investigated. In this  study, HDS and DDS subpopulations were determined in a total of 37 human  males: 8 males with proven fertility, 9 infertile males with  asthenoteratozoospermia, 10 carriers of chromosomal reorganizations, and 10  infertile males with clinical varicocele. Results showed a significant  increase of the DDS subpopulation (P < .001) in both the  varicocele patient (16.85 ± 7.24) and carrier of rearranged genome  (11.6 ± 5.23) groups, but not in patients with asthenoteratozoospermia  (3.88 ± 1.55) or fertile donors (2.62 ± 1.68). No statistical  differences were detected for the HDS subpopulation (P = .542), but  the highest values were found in the varicocele and rearranged-genome groups.  However, no correlation between the HDS and DDS subpopulations were found  (r = 0.196; P = .244), suggesting that both represent a  different class of sperm subpopulation in the ejaculate. A significant  increase in HDS, and especially DDS, can be associated with the presence of  varicocele or the rearrangement of chromosomes. Specific diagnostic tests to  confirm the diagnosis must be performed in patients with increased DDS and HDS  values.
authors.affiliation: Càtedra de Recerca Eugin-UAB, Fisiologia i Immunologia Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. agusti.garcia@uab.es
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Peiró
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliver-Bonet
authors.forename: Joaquima
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abad
authors.forename: María José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Amengual
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López-Fernández
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gosálvez
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benet
mesh_terms: D053627:Asthenozoospermia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000235:genetics; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014646:Varicocele / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin