Abstract
Abnormal standard semen characteristics and reduced sperm chromatin maturity can appear with increasing male age. However, the influence of paternal age on semen parameters is still controversial. Therefore, this study was designed to estimate the influence of paternal age not only on conventional semen characteristics but also on sperm DNA integrity. This research was carried out on ejaculated sperm cells obtained from men (n = 1124) aged ≥40 y and <40 y. Our data revealed a decreased semen volume and an increased percentage of DFI (sperm DNA fragmentation index) in older men compared to younger men in the entire study cohort, in men with normozoospermia and in men with abnormal semen parameters. Moreover, there was a higher incidence of sperm DNA damage (>10% DFI, low fertility potential) in the groups of men aged ≥40 y than in the groups of men aged <40 y. Older men had over twice the odds ratio for high sperm DNA damage as younger men. Our findings suggest a detrimental effect of advanced paternal age on sperm chromatin integrity. The data show that the evaluation of sperm DNA has greater clinical utility than standard semen analysis in case of male fertility potential assessment.
Highlights
Infertility has become a worldwide problem, affecting up to 20% of couples trying to conceive [1, 2]
The obtained data revealed the differences in selected sperm conventional characteristics and sperm DNA fragmentation between age groups
Based on the suggestions of other authors [20, 22, 23] men ≥40 y and
Summary
Infertility has become a worldwide problem, affecting up to 20% of couples trying to conceive [1, 2]. In this context, a few important facts should be emphasized: 1) male factors (coexisting with female factors) contribute to infertility in up to 20–70% of cases, and one-third of these cases are due to male factors alone [1,2,3]; 2) an actual decline in semen quality over the past decades has been observed globally [4]; and 3) paternal age is rising, as an increasing number of men are decide to became a father at an older age [5, 6]. Children with heart defects (e.g., ventricular septal defects, atrial septal defects, large vessel transposition), neural tube defects, anencephaly and tracheo-oesophageal fistula have been born to men >35, 40, and 45 y of age [13] (Figure 1)
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