title: Evaluation of sperm nuclear integrity in patients with different percentages of decapitated sperm in ejaculates.
abstract: The decapitated sperm defect is a rare type of teratozoospermia responsible for male infertility. Spermatozoa from patients affected by this syndrome are used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) although little is known about their DNA integrity. This study evaluated sperm nuclear alterations in four patients and ten fertile men (control group). Sperm samples were examined by light, transmission electron and high-magnification contrast microscopy and analysed after terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling, aniline blue staining and fluorescence in-situ hybridization. Spermatozoa from patients presented varying degrees of decapitation, along with morphological and ultrastructural head abnormalities. Whereas the proportion of spermatozoa with fragmented DNA and numerical chromosome abnormalities was similar in patients 1-3 and controls, the percentage of spermatozoa with hypocondensed chromatin was higher in patients 1-3 than in fertile men. Patient 4 presented a distinct phenotype, with an increased proportion of flagellated spermatozoa with DNA strand breaks as well as increased aneuploidy and diploidy rates compared with controls and with patients 1-3. No successful pregnancy resulted from ICSI although embryos were obtained for three patients. The morphological defects and the nuclear alterations observed in spermatozoa of patients with the decapitated sperm syndrome may have contributed to ICSI failures.
authors.affiliation: EA 4308 'Gamétogenèse et qualité du gamète', Rouen, France; Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction - CECOS, CHU - Hôpitaux de Rouen, Institut de Recherche et d'Innovation Biomédicale, Université de Rouen, Rouen, France. Electronic address: christine.rondanino@chu-rouen.fr.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rondanino
authors.affiliation: EA 4308 'Gamétogenèse et qualité du gamète', Rouen, France; Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction - CECOS, CHU - Hôpitaux de Rouen, Institut de Recherche et d'Innovation Biomédicale, Université de Rouen, Rouen, France.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Duchesne
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U933, Hôpital Armand-Trousseau, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6 and Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Escalier
authors.affiliation: EA 4308 'Gamétogenèse et qualité du gamète', Rouen, France; Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction - CECOS, CHU - Hôpitaux de Rouen, Institut de Recherche et d'Innovation Biomédicale, Université de Rouen, Rouen, France.
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jumeau
authors.affiliation: EA 4308 'Gamétogenèse et qualité du gamète', Rouen, France; Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction - CECOS, CHU - Hôpitaux de Rouen, Institut de Recherche et d'Innovation Biomédicale, Université de Rouen, Rouen, France.
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Verhaeghe
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie de la Reproduction - Spermiologie - CECOS, CHRU de Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Claire
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Peers
authors.affiliation: EA 4308 'Gamétogenèse et qualité du gamète', Rouen, France; Institut de Biologie de la Reproduction - Spermiologie - CECOS, CHRU de Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: EA 4308 'Gamétogenèse et qualité du gamète', Rouen, France; Laboratoire de Biologie de la Reproduction - CECOS, CHU - Hôpitaux de Rouen, Institut de Recherche et d'Innovation Biomédicale, Université de Rouen, Rouen, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rives
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D055101:Semen Analysis; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure
keywords: DNA fragmentation; aneuploidy rates; chromatin condensation; decapitated spermatozoa; sperm nucleus