title: Successful outcomes achieved in assisted reproduction cycles using sperm with high levels of high DNA stainability.
abstract: The sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) has been proposed as a useful addition to the battery of tests routinely used to explore semen quality and hence to give an indication of the likelihood of a successful pregnancy. As usually performed at present, the assay yields two main sperm variables, the DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and the high DNA stainability (HDS). In the present study 275 patients undergoing 215 in vitro fertilization (IVF) and 215 intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles were studied with the purpose of defining the clinical significance of HDS in IVF and ICSI cycles. Using the Spearman correlation test there were no significant statistical relationships between %HDS and fertilization rate, rate of embryo growth, blastocyst rate, implantation rate, or live birth rate. Rate of pregnancy loss showed a negative relationship significant at the 0.05 level which is unexplained. It is not known whether the normal practice of using processed sperm for fertilization plays any part in this lack of a negative effect of HDS level upon the stages of the cycle. A total of 16 patients with HDS levels >28% had an average live birth rate of 47.8% and an average pregnancy loss of 8.7%, which compared favourably with the group of patients as a whole.
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Womens' Health and.
authors.forename: Barbara E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Speyer
authors.affiliation: b Research Department of Haematology , University College London , London , UK , and.
authors.forename: Arnold R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pizzey
authors.affiliation: c Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health , London , UK.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abramov
authors.affiliation: c Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health , London , UK.
authors.forename: Wael
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Saab
authors.affiliation: c Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health , London , UK.
authors.forename: Alpesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doshi
authors.affiliation: c Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health , London , UK.
authors.forename: Urvashi
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sarna
authors.affiliation: a Institute for Womens' Health and.
authors.forename: Joyce C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.affiliation: c Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health , London , UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Serhal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013094:Spermatozoa
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: High DNA stainability; in vitro fertilization (IVF); intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); pregnancy loss