Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on April 6, 2006
Human Reproduction 2006 21(7):1781-1786; doi:10.1093/humrep/del084
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sperm integrity pre- and post-chemotherapy in men with testicular germ cell cancer
1 Department of Urology 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology 3 Department of Chemical Endocrinology and 4 Department of Epidemiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands
5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Urology, Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem, 6800 TA Arnhem, The Netherlands. E-mail: spermon{at}hotmail.com
BACKGROUND: While (partial) recovery of spermatogenesis, observed by means of standard semen analysis, has been seen in testicular cancer patients after chemotherapy with cisplatin, sperm genomic integrity and its implication for the patient’s fertility are poorly understood. METHODS: Semen and serum from 22 patients treated for testicular cancer were analysed pre- and post-chemotherapy. Besides routine semen analysis, sperm samples were evaluated by computerized karyometric image analysis (CKIA), chromomycin-A3 assay (CMA3, chromatin condensation) and TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling assay (TUNEL, DNA damage). Serum FSH, LH and testosterone concentrations were measured. RESULTS: Ejaculate volume decreased post-chemotherapy (P < 0.05). External sperm characteristics (CKIA morphometry) and sperm counts did not deteriorate after chemotherapy. An improvement in DNA condensation was assessed after chemotherapy (37 versus 50% and 47.5 versus 63.7% for CMA3 and CKIA respectively; both P<0.005); yet a high percentage of TUNEL-positive sperm was found in the samples (21 versus 25% for pre- and post-chemotherapy samples respectively). These values were significantly higher than those of a convenience sample of normozoospermic males attending pre-IVF screening. Serum FSH and LH (IU/l) increased after chemotherapy compared with pretreatment levels (8.1 versus 16.7 and 4.5 vs 6.8; both P < 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the improvement in sperm chromatin packaging after chemotherapy, an abnormally high percentage of DNA-damaged sperm was found in these samples. As sperm quality does not reach normal levels after treatment, it remains difficult to outline the best strategy and guidance concerning fertility potential of testicular cancer patients.
Key words: chemotherapy/chromatin condensation/DNA breaks/sperm
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  C. O'Flaherty, F. Vaisheva, B.F. Hales, P. Chan, and B. Robaire Characterization of sperm chromatin quality in testicular cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma patients prior to chemotherapy Hum. Reprod., May 1, 2008; 23(5): 1044 - 1052. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. S. Barton, B. Robaire, and B. F. Hales DNA Damage Recognition in the Rat Zygote Following Chronic Paternal Cyclophosphamide Exposure Toxicol. Sci., December 1, 2007; 100(2): 495 - 503. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. D. van Beek, M. Smit, M. M. van den Heuvel-Eibrink, F. H. de Jong, F. G. Hakvoort-Cammel, C. van den Bos, H. van den Berg, R. F.A. Weber, R. Pieters, and S. M.P.F. de Muinck Keizer-Schrama Inhibin B is superior to FSH as a serum marker for spermatogenesis in men treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma with chemotherapy during childhood Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2007; 22(12): 3215 - 3222. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Godmann, V. Auger, V. Ferraroni-Aguiar, A. D. Sauro, C. Sette, R. Behr, and S. Kimmins Dynamic Regulation of Histone H3 Methylation at Lysine 4 in Mammalian Spermatogenesis Biol Reprod, November 1, 2007; 77(5): 754 - 764. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Delbes, B. F. Hales, and B. Robaire Effects of the Chemotherapy Cocktail Used to Treat Testicular Cancer on Sperm Chromatin Integrity J Androl, March 1, 2007; 28(2): 241 - 249. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|