Association between sperm chromatin status and macroscopic sperm parameters in human

Most macroscopic parameters indicate accessory gland dysfunctions or congenital defects , which may also effect sperm chromatin status by increasing oxidative stress and apoptosis . The current study aimed to find out the possible relationship between sperm chromatin status and the parameters of macroscopic semen examination . This study was carried out between June 1st. 2014 and November 1st. 2014 including one hundred (100) selected infertile men who was treated at the Fertility Center in Al-Sadr Medical City in Al-Najaf Province . The study also included twenty (20) healthy fertile volunteers as a control . Aniline blue (AB) staining was used to differentiate between normal condensed chromatin (unstained) and abnormal decondensed chromatin (blue), while toluidine blue (TB) was used to differentiate between normal intact sperm DNA (blue) and abnormal damaged sperm DNA (purple) . Abnormal macroscopic semen parameters (except semen appearance and pH) and abnormal sperm chromatin status were seen to be increased in significant levels in the infertile group as compared to fertile men (control) . The results also revealed that there was a high significant negative correlation (p 0.01) between both sperm chromatin decondensation and sperm DNA damage and each of ejaculate volume, liquefaction time, and a positive association with semen viscosity , while no relationship was observed with semen appearance and pH . The study concluded that abnormal semen macroscopic parameters may indicate sperm DNA fragmentation or chromatin decondensation . It is recommended that aniline blue and toluidine blue staining are used to assess sperm DNA fragmentation or chromatin decondensation when bad macroscopic parameters are noticed in the first part of seminal fluid analysis.