Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on June 24, 2005
Human Reproduction 2005 20(10):2776-2783; doi:10.1093/humrep/dei122
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Andrology |
Episodic air pollution is associated with increased DNA fragmentation in human sperm without other changes in semen quality
1 Department of Genetics and Reproduction, Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic, 2 National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, US EPA, Washington, DC, 3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA, 4 Institute of Hygiene, Brno, Czech Republic, 5 Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA and 6 Reproductive Toxicology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, US EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
7 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: US EPA (MD-72), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA. E-mail: Darney.sally{at}epa.gov
BACKGROUND: This study examined potential associations between exposure to episodes of air pollution and alterations in semen quality. The air pollution, resulting from combustion of coal for industry and home heating in the Teplice district of the Czech Republic, was much higher during the winter than at other times of year with peaks exceeding US air quality standards. METHODS: Young men from Teplice were sampled up to seven times over 2 years allowing evaluation of semen quality after periods of exposure to both low and high air pollution. Routine semen analysis (sperm concentration, motility and morphology) and tests for sperm aneuploidy and chromatin integrity were performed, comparing measurements within each subject. Exposure was classified as high or low based on data from ambient air pollution monitoring. RESULTS: Using repeated measures analysis, a significant association was found between exposure to periods of high air pollution (at or above the upper limit of US air quality standards) and the percentage of sperm with DNA fragmentation according to sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA). Other semen measures were not associated with air pollution. CONCLUSION: Exposure to intermittent air pollution may result in sperm DNA damage and thereby increase the rates of male-mediated infertility, miscarriage, and other adverse reproductive outcomes.
Key words: air pollution/computer-aided sperm analysis/human semen/sperm aneuploidy/sperm chromatin structure assay
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