What is Sperm DNA fragmentation?

Good quality sperm DNA is important for successful fertilization and male fertility plays a crucial role to make his female partner pregnant. When a male’s sperm DNA is severely damaged, it increases the  difficulty in achieving pregnancy. 

The amount of damage in sperm DNA is called Sperm DNA fragmentation, which means the DNA within the sperm contains breaks. Sperm is tiny, but it takes just one sperm to fertilize a woman’s egg to create a baby.

High level of sperm DNA fragmentation indicates higher infertility of men, which impacts female partner to conceive.  For married couples, not being able to conceive a child can be stressful and frustrating, but today, plenty of treatments are available to treat male infertility.

Over the past few decades, there has been a global decline in the quality of human sperm. One in six couples in the world is affected by infertility.

Male infertility is on the rise and the major contributing reasons for sperm DNA fragmentation can be associated with smoking, alcohol intake, consumption of illicit drugs, obesity, psychological stress, advanced paternal age, dietary practices, and other lifestyle factors.

The health of the sperm is important if you and your partner want to welcome a new-born in your life.

Treatment for DNA fragmentation:

1. Lifestyle modifications:

• First, Smoking and drinking are commonly associated with causing oxidative stress resulting in sperm DNA fragmentation so cut down or stop alcohol consumption.
• Secondly, studies have shown that obesity leads to higher risk of sperm DNA damage in infertile patients.  If your BMI is above 25 then having a more balanced diet and increasing exercise to help lose weight is advised. 

There is some evidence that shows that processed and junk foods can cause DNA fragmentation as well as reducing sperm counts.  Therefore, even if your BMI is at a healthy weight, it is advisable to be careful with what you eat, avoiding junk food, take the right supplement and focus on including more fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet.

2. Testicular sperm:

Testicular sperm tend to have less DNA damage and better DNA integrity than ejaculated sperm. However, due to some genetic and epigenetic risks, doubts have been raised regarding the use of testicular sperm.

3. Sperm Separation Techniques:

To overcome DNA Fragmentation Microfluidics (Sperm Cell Sorter) & Positive Rheotaxis Extended Drop techniques are used for sperm separation.

At Corion, we routinely offer these treatment options to our patients to increase our chances for success.

To know more about Sperm DNA fragmentation, kindly write to us at reachus@corionfertilityclinic.com