Skip Navigation



Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on May 26, 2005
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dei087
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/9/2517    most recent
dei087v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Viloria, T.
Right arrow Articles by Pellicer, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Viloria, T.
Right arrow Articles by Pellicer, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received October 22, 2004
Revised April 13, 2005
Accepted April 20, 2005

Article

Smoking habits of parents and male: female ratio in spermatozoa and preimplantation embryos

T. Viloria 1*, M.C. Rubio 1, L. Rodrigo 1, G. Calderon 2, A. Mercader 1, E. Mateu 1, M. Meseguer 1, J. Remohi 1, and A. Pellicer 3

1 Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad-Valencia, University of Valencia, Spain
2 Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad-Barcelona, Spain
3 Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad-Valencia, University of Valencia, Spain, Hospital Universitario Dr Peset, Valencia, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
T. Viloria, E-mail: tviloria{at}ivi.es


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: Previous observations have addressed a decreased male:female ratio associated with smoking. Our aim was to assess whether this effect is observed at the spermatozoa or at the early embryo development. METHODS: We retrospectively assessed smoking intake habits of 56 couples included in our preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) program. Three groups were established according to male or female cigarette consumption per day: non-smokers, smokers (1-19 cigarettes per day) and heavy smokers (≥20 cigarettes per day). Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) was performed on ejaculated sperm samples to analyse chromosomes X and Y. On day 3, embryos were also analysed. Additionally, sperm samples from four heavy smoking and four non-smoking donors were prospectively analysed before and after capacitation. RESULTS: FISH on spermatozoa revealed no statistical differences in the Y:X ratio between the three groups. However, in the PGD study, in male heavy smokers, the XY:XX embryo ratio was decreased compared with non-smokers (22:47 versus 80:71; P=0.0057). The smoking condition of the female partner had no significant effect on embryo XY:XX ratio, but for non-smoking females with a heavy smoking partner, the ratio was decreased (P=0.0018) compared with non-smoking males. In heavy smoking donors a decreased of Y:X ratio was observed after swim-up with a statistically significant difference of ratios (P=0.021). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking habits of males do not have an effect on the percentage of X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa on ejaculated samples. However, male heavy smokers produce an increased incidence of female embryos that could be related to an enrichment of X spermatozoa after swim-up in patients with high tobacco consumption.

Keywords: cigarette; fluorescence in-situ hybridization; preimplantation genetic diagnosis; sex ratio; sperm.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.