Srinivas Sangisapu, Karunakaran Sandeep
BACKGROUND Standard semen analysis for male infertility evaluation is inadequate. Sperm DNA integrity is vital for fertilization. Sperm function testing incorporating the assessment of sperm DNA integrity is critical since many cases of male infertility otherwise get labelled as “unexplained”. Sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) is a simple and easy test to assess Sperm DNA Fragmentation (SDF). With advancements in the ART, there is wide spread use of cryopreservation for fertility preservation. Freeze-thaw is reported to induce DNA damage to sperm cells. Present study is on effects of cryopreservation by analysing pre-freeze and post thaw SDF of semen samples by SCD. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of cryopreservation on sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). The objective of the study is to assess the SDF as measured by the sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) test on pre-freeze and post thaw cryopreserved semen samples. MATERIALS AND METHODS Single centre prospective cohort study. 100 normozoospermic male volunteers of infertile couple analysed for pre-freeze and post -thaw SDF by advanced version of SCD Halosperm® kit. RESULTS Significant increase (< 0.001) in the percentage of SDF in post thaw semen samples vis-a-vis pre- freeze samples was observed. CONCLUSION Cryopreservation / freeze - thaw of semen induces a slight but significant percentage of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). Hence it has a bearing on selection of ideal ART procedure.
