In the past, semen parameters have been the primary diagnostic criteria used to establish male infertility. However, with the exception of sperm motility, which is known to be linked to rates of in vitro fertilization success, these parameters are generally unreliable at accurately predicting the potential fertility of a couple. More recent research has suggested that sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) may be a more robust and reliable means of predicting assisted reproductive outcomes. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between sperm motility, sperm DFI, and rates of clinical pregnancy by analyzing data from 3000 couples dealing with infertility. Using the most recent semen analysis reports available from male partners in these couples, we assessed these parameters and found that the lower the sperm DFI value, the higher the rate of clinical pregnancy. When we assessed the correlation between sperm DFI, sperm motility, and clinical pregnancy, we observed a strong negative correlation between DFI and motility, but observed no significant relationship between sperm motility and pregnancy rates. These results thus indicate that the measurement of DFI via a sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) may be a valuable tool for analyzing semen in order to better predict and improve pregnancy rates in infertile couples.
Keywords: DFI; Pregnancy rates; SCSA; Sperm motility.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.