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Asian Journal of Andrology (2012) 14, 890–896; doi:10.1038/aja.2012.76; published online 15 October 2012
Relationship between apoptotic markers in semen from fertile men and demographic, hormonal and seminal characteristics
Ina O Specht1, Marcello Spanò2, Karin S Hougaard3, Gian C Manicardi4, Davide Bizzaro5, Gunnar Toft6, Aleksander Giwercman7 and Jens-Peter E Bonde1
1 Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Copenhagen NV DK-2400, Denmark
2 Laboratory of Toxicology, Unit of Radiation Biology and Human Health, ENEA Casaccia Research Center, Rome I-00123, Italy
3 National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen ØDK-2100, Denmark
4 Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e degli Alimenti, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia I-42121, Italy
5 Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona I-60131, Italy
6 Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus C DK-8000, Denmark
7 Reproductive Medicine Centre, Malmö University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö SE-20502, Sweden
Correspondence: IO Specht, (ispe0002@bbh.regionh.dk)
Received 9 February 2012; Revised 8 May 2012; Accepted 22 June 2012
Advance online publication 15 October 2012
| Abstract |
Apoptosis in the testis has two putative roles during normal spermatogenesis; limitation of the germ cell population to numbers that can be supported by the Sertoli cells, and, possibly, selective depletion of meiotic and postmeiotic abnormal germ cells. We investigated the demographic and biological correlates of the pro-apoptotic marker Fas and the anti-apoptotic marker Bcl-xL in sperm cells of fertile men. Six hundred and four men from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine were consecutively enrolled during their pregnant wife's antenatal visits. Semen analysis was performed as recommended by the World Health Organization. Immunofluorescence coupled to flow cytometry was utilized for detection of apoptotic markers in the sperm cell. DNA damage was assessed by flow cytometry using both the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay. The percentage of Fas-positive sperm cells was higher in men with high total sperm count (P<0.01), more motile sperms (P=0.04) and fewer sperm head defects (P=0.05). These associations were consistent within and across study regions. Furthermore, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and sexual hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were significantly negatively correlated with Fas within and across regions as well. The data indicated no association between the anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL marker and semen or personal characteristics. The finding of Fas-positive sperm cells associated with better semen quality in a cohort of spouses of pregnant women seems different from previous data obtained in infertile men and warrants further investigation to clarify the biological significance of sperm apoptotic markers.
Keywords: apoptosis; Bcl-x protein; Fas-associated death domain protein; fertility; sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA); spermatozoa; TUNEL assay |
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