Effect of advancing paternal age on semen parameters and seminal oxidative stress markers in infertile men

BackgroundHigh rate of subfertility and adverse pregnancy related out-comes associated with childbearing are seen after age 40.In contrast to oogenesis, spermatogenesis continues inelderly men. Adult male germ cells pass through signifi-cantly more mitotic replications than the germ cells inadult female. In men, there is an age associated increase inthe incidence of breaks in sperm DNA, decrease in apopto-sis, and a higher frequency of point mutations. Advancedpaternal age is associated with an increased time to preg-nancy and decreased pregnancy rates. After adjusting forfemale age, conception during a 12-month period was > 30percent less likely for men over 40 years of age as com-pared to men 45years compared to men 40 years (n = 105). We evaluated the conven-tional semen parameters (WHO, 2010) [5] and OS mar-kers: seminal ROS (chemiluminescence assay), totalantioxidant capacity (TAC) and sperm DNA damage(TUNEL assay) in all patients.ResultsThe mean age of the study subjects was 36.8 ± 6.7 years.No age-related differences were seen in conventionalsemen parameters (volume, concentration, motility, andmorphology) (Table 1). ROS and antioxidant levels werecomparable in the 3 groups. Significantly higher levels ofsperm DNA damage (19.94 ± 15.30%) was seen in infertilemen >40 years compared to men in younger age groups(P = 0.028 and P = 0.027, respectively).ConclusionsSperm DNA damage increases with advancing paternalage. Evaluation of sperm DNA damage will help diagnosethe underlying cause of poor fertility in some men andassist the clinician in offering correct treatment modality.