Meiotic behaviour and sperm aneuploidy in an infertile man with a mosaic 45,X/46,XY karyotype

Abstract

The meiotic behaviour of the germ cells in 45,X/46,XY men has not been extensively studied. This study investigated the meiotic events and sperm aneuploidy in an azoospermic man with a 45,X/46,XY (50/50) mosaic karyotype to better understand the fate of the 45,X cells and the production of chromosomally abnormal spermatozoa. Combining immunofluorescence techniques and fluorescence in-situ hybridization, meiotic recombination, synapsis, meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI) and configuration were analysed, as well as sperm aneuploidy in the patient and 10 normal, fertile men. Despite the 50:50 somatic mosaicism in the patient, 25% of pachytene cells analysed were 45,X. Furthermore, 63% of pachytene cells were 46,XY with paired sex chromosomes, and 12% were 46,XY with unpaired sex chromosomes, which displayed abnormal MCSI patterns. Although the patient's testicular spermatozoa showed increased aneuploidy, the majority were of normal constitution. The X:Y sperm ratio was significantly increased compared with the controls (P < 0.001), which may indicate that some 45,X cells gave rise to X-bearing spermatozoa. The findings provide insight into the fate of 45,X/46,XY cells in meiosis, supporting the hypothesis that stringent checkpoints ensure the favourable production of spermatozoa with normal chromosomal constitution despite an individual's abnormal karyotype.