title: [Sperm DNA damage in young men working on the plateau].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether long working in the high-altitude area can damage sperm DNA in men.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enlisted 51 service men stationed on the plateau in an observation group and another 53 living in the low-altitude area in a control group. We detected and compared the damages to sperm DNA in the semen samples from the two groups using single cell gel electrophoresis and the sperm chromatin dispersion test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentages of total, G1, G2 and G3 comet cells and abnormal sperm of the observation group were (5.56 +/- 3.98)%, (3.72 +/- 1.85)%, (1.57 +/- 1.07)%, (0.27 +/- 0.34)% and (16.59 +/- 12.07)%, respectively, before stationed on the plateau, but significantly increased at 6 months of plateau life ([11.15 +/- 8.59]%, [5.97 +/- 3.26]%, [3.83 +/- 2.13%, [1.35 +/- 1.53]% and [22.03 +/- 15.33]%, P<0.05). The percentages of G2 comet cells and abnormal sperm were decreased to (3.32 +/- 1.83)% and (20.54 +/- 15.52)% at 12 months, but still significantly higher than the baseline (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Long working on the plateau may damage sperm DNA, but its influence on male fertility deserves further investigation. Therefore, it is important to reinforce reproductive health protection for males working on the plateau.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Urumqi General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Region, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830000, China. wrxj2005@gmail.com
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zhan-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Wu-Zhong
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013076:Sperm Count; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult