Sperm Protamine Deficiency in Different Groups ofInfertile Men

Background: Proper packaging of chromatin through the replacementof his tones with protamines is one of the mos t importantevents that take during the process of spermiogenesis.Any defect in this process can lead to sperm DNA fragmentationwhich results in reduced embryo quality and pregnancy.Considering the importance of this protein, we aimed to assesssperm protamine deficiency in different populations of infertilemen with a high sample size.Materials and Methods: Semen samples of ۹۴۱ infertile menand ۱۸۱ fertile men were collected from Isfahan Fertility andInfertility Center. The infertile population consis ted of infertilemen candidates for ICSI (n=۲۰۶), infertile men with no underlyingdisease (n=۳۳۰) and varicocele (n=۳۷۱), and globozoospermicmen (n=۳۴), while fertile men were healthy men withproven fertility (n=۱۸۱). We assessed the extent of protaminedeficiency by chromomycin A۳ (CMA۳) s taining technique.Results: The mean percentage of sperm protamine deficiencywas significantly higher in infertile men than the fertile individuals(P<۰.۰۰۱). Also, we observed significant differencesin sperm protamine deficiency between the fertile group witheach of the infertile subgroups (P<۰.۰۰۱). Concurrently, we didnot observe a significant difference in the mean percentage ofsperm protamine deficiency values between infertile subgroups(P>۰.۰۵).Conclusion: The results of this s tudy clearly show that in infertilemen with various causes, sperm protamine deficiency canbe a major factor in infertility

کلیدواژه ها:

Chromomycin A۳ ، Male Infertility ، Protamines ، Spermatozoa