To assess sperm quality as a function of the sampling site (testis or epididymis) in obstructive azoospermia (OA).
DNA fragmentation rates in spermatozoa sampled from the testis and epididymis (from patients with different aetiologies of OA) were assessed in a dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay.
Twenty-one OA patients were included: 5 had congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens, 8 had genital tract infections and 8 had idiopathic OA. A total of 8506 spermatozoa sampled from the testis, 18358 sampled from the caput epididymis and 18881 sampled from the corpus/cauda epididymis were assessed. For each patient, spermatozoa from the testis had a lower overall DNA fragmentation rate (6.71% ± 0.75 in average) than epididymal spermatozoa from the caput (14.86% ± 1.89 in average; p=0.0007) or the corpus/cauda (32.61% ± 3.11 in average; p<0.0001). The DNA fragmentation rates did not differ significantly as a function of the aetiology of OA. In this small series, all deliveries were obtained with sperm samples with a low DNA fragmentation rate and delivery rates tended to be higher when testicular sperm (rather than epididymal sperm) was used (35.7% vs. 12.1%, respectively; p=0.06).
Our data argue in favour of using testicular sperm (rather than epididymal sperm) for patients with obstructive azoospermia.
Urology. 2016 Jan 22 [Epub ahead of print]
I Hammoud, M Bailly, M Bergere, R Wainer, V Izard, F Vialard, J Selva, F Boitrelle
Department of Reproductive Biology, Cytogenetics and Gynaecology, Poissy General Hospital, F-78303 Poissy, France; Department of Reproductive Biology, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, F-75014 Paris, France; EA7404-GIG, UFR des Sciences de la Santé Simone Veil, Université Paris-Saclay, F78300 Montigny le Bretonneux, France., Department of Reproductive Biology, Cytogenetics and Gynaecology, Poissy General Hospital, F-78303 Poissy, France., Department of Reproductive Biology, Cytogenetics and Gynaecology, Poissy General Hospital, F-78303 Poissy, France; EA7404-GIG, UFR des Sciences de la Santé Simone Veil, Université Paris-Saclay, F78300 Montigny le Bretonneux, France., Department of Reproductive Biology, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, F-75014 Paris, France., Department of Reproductive Biology, Cytogenetics and Gynaecology, Poissy General Hospital, F-78303 Poissy, France; EA7404-GIG, UFR des Sciences de la Santé Simone Veil, Université Paris-Saclay, F78300 Montigny le Bretonneux, France. Electronic address: .