REMOTE EFFECTS OF POST-CHORNOBYL IRRADIATION ON THE BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MALE SPERMATOZOA

Abstract

The present research aim was analysis of long-term radiation effects on biochemical characteristics of sperm collected from donors originating from radioactive-polluted territories of Ukraine, namely Zhytomyr oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, Kyiv oblast and Poltava oblast. Apart from this, the role of radiation component in sperm damaging was assessed. It was found that in the most radiation polluted region - Zhytomyr the sperm samples were characterized by a large proportion of degenerative spermatozoa along with immobile sperms. Early signs of apoptosis development in spermatozoa were shown to progress gradually from Poltava to Zhytomyr. Thus, the apoptotic index for sperm samples was highest in Zhytomyr and lowest in Poltava. Also, raise in accumulated radiation dose was associated with elevation of ROS production in sperm samples. It was shown that the ROS production for Zhytomyr donors was threefold more than for Poltava’s donors and almost twofold more than for donors from Ivano-Frankivsk. Also we found differences in the mitochondrial potential (∆ψ) of spermatozoa too. The total ∆ψ tended to drop down depending on the mean value of radiation accumulated dose, for Kyiv and Zhytomyr the mean values being significantly less than for Poltava. Thus, our investigations have shown that subjects living on radiation polluted territories may generate a great deal of damaged spermatozoa with the hidden molecular and cellular lesions. The latter would predispose inhabitants of radiation polluted regions to male-infertility.