Association between sperm DNA integrity and seminal plasma antioxidant levels in health workers occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation.
There is a paucity of data regarding the association between occupational radiation exposure and risk to human fertility. Recently, we provided the first evidence on altered sperm functional characteristics, DNA damage and hypermethylation in radiation health workers. However, there is no report elucidating the association between seminal plasma antioxidants and sperm chromatin integrity in occupationally exposed subjects. Here, we assessed the seminal plasma antioxidants and lipid peroxidation level in 83 men who were occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation and then correlated with the sperm chromatin integrity. Flow cytometry based sperm chromatin integrity assay revealed a significant decline in αt value in the exposed group in comparison to the non-exposed group (P<0.0001). Similarly, both total and reduced glutathione levels and total antioxidant capacity in the seminal plasma were significantly higher in exposed group than the non-exposed group (P<0.01, 0.001 and 0.0001, respectively). However, superoxide dismutase level and malondialdehyde level, which is an indicator of lipid peroxidation in the seminal plasma, did not differ significantly between two groups. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and GSH level exhibited a positive correlation with sperm DNA integrity in exposed subjects. To conclude, this study distinctly shows that altered sperm chromatin integrity in radiation health workers is associated with increase in seminal plasma antioxidant level. Further, the increased seminal plasma GSH and TAC could be an adaptive measure to tackle the oxidative stress to protect genetic and functional sperm deformities in radiation health workers.
Division of Clinical Embryology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India.
Dayanidhi
D
Kumar
Division of Clinical Embryology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India.
Sujith Raj
SR
Salian
Division of Clinical Embryology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India.
Guruprasad
G
Kalthur
Division of Clinical Embryology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India.
Shubhashree
S
Uppangala
Division of Clinical Embryology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India.
Sandhya
S
Kumari
Department of Radiotherapy, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, India.
Srinivas
S
Challapalli
Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India.
Shrinidhi Gururajarao
SG
Chandraguthi
National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India.
Navya
N
Jain
National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India.
Hanumanthappa
H
Krishnamurthy
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal, India.
Pratap
P
Kumar
Division of Clinical Embryology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India. Electronic address: satish.adiga@manipal.edu.
Satish Kumar
SK
Adiga
D000328:Adult; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008297:Male; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012661:Semen / Q000201:enzymology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
D000975:Antioxidants; D002843:Chromatin; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005978:Glutathione
Antioxidants; Ionizing radiation; Lipid peroxidation; Seminal plasma; Sperm DNA