title: Does sperm DNA fragmentation affect the developmental potential and the incidence of apoptosis following blastomere biopsy?
abstract: Common methods employed in assisted reproduction technology (ART) include intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with an unspecified level of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of SDF on human preimplantation embryo development and the incidence of apoptosis following a single blastomere biopsy. Using sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) to assess SDF, a total of 20 processed semen samples were categorized into two groups; group I: SDF ≤30% and group II: SDF >30%. After ICSI, fertilization, cleavage, and embryo quality score were assessed. A single blastomere was biopsied from day 3 embryos and development was monitored on day 4. The frequency of apoptosis in biopsied embryos was assayed by TUNEL and the level of BCL-2, BAX, hsa-mir-15a, and hsa-mir-16-1 were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). SCD was found to be negatively correlated with sperm motility and normal form spermatozoa (p < 0.05). The rate of fertilization, cleavage, and embryo quality score were not significantly different between the two groups (all p > 0.05). SDF >30% had no negative effect on potential development and did not increase the proportion of apoptotic cells and the level of apoptosis-related genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) in group II vs. group I (p > 0.05). It appears that at the levels assessed paternal genome damage had little if any negative effect on preimplantaton embryo development and apoptosis following single blastomere biopsy. This may reflect the selection of morphologically normal sperm for ICSI and the repair capacity of the oocyte.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Reproductive Biology and Anatomical Sciences , Faculty of Medicine .|b Department of Transgenic Animal Science , Stem Cell Technology Research Center .
authors.forename: Tahereh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Haghpanah
authors.affiliation: c Department of Biotechnology , School of Medicine .|d Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center .|e Department of Biotechnology , School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine , and.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Reproductive Biology and Anatomical Sciences , Faculty of Medicine .
authors.forename: Marefat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghaffari Novin
authors.affiliation: a Department of Reproductive Biology and Anatomical Sciences , Faculty of Medicine .
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masteri Farahani
authors.affiliation: a Department of Reproductive Biology and Anatomical Sciences , Faculty of Medicine .
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fadaei-Fathabadi
authors.affiliation: b Department of Transgenic Animal Science , Stem Cell Technology Research Center .
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dehghani-Mohammadabadi
authors.affiliation: f Department of English Language Teaching , School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Iran.
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Azimi
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D001706:Biopsy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001755:Blastocyst; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000473:pathology*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002970:Cleavage Stage, Ovum; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D011247:Pregnancy; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Apoptosis; ICSI; blastomere biopsy; embryo development; sperm DNA fragmentation; sperm chromatin dispersion test