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Magnetic-activated cell sorting is not completely effective at reducing sperm DNA fragmentation

  • Gamete Biology
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To determine whether there is a homogeneous reduction of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) in sperm samples recovered from the MACS procedure, compared to spermatozoa in the initial ejaculate (NEAT) and those retained in the column.

Methods

This study investigated the relative change in sperm DNA quality (SDF) of neat ejaculates (10 idiopathic infertile and 10 normozoospermic patients) to subpopulations of spermatozoa that had passed through the column (MACS−) and those retained (MACS+) by the annexin-V conjugated microbeads.

Results

While the MACS protocol was capable of reducing the mean proportion of SDF (59.2%; P = 0.000) and sperm with highly degraded DNA (SDD; 65.7%, P = 0.000) in all patients, the reduction was not homogeneous across the patient cohort. A significant positive correlation (r = 0.772, P = 0.000) was apparent between the level of SDF in the NEAT ejaculate and the efficacy of SDF reduction observed in the MACS− fraction.

Conclusion

MACS is capable of reducing the proportion of SDF, especially spermatozoa with a highly degraded DNA molecule. However, this reduction did not preclude the presence of a small subpopulation of spermatozoa with damaged DNA in the MACS− fraction. The MACS protocol was two- to threefold more efficient when the SDF in NEAT ejaculate was equal to or greater than 30%. In 4 of 20 individuals, the level of SDF after MACS resulted in semen for ICSI with a higher or non-significant reduction when compared to SDF observed in the NEAT ejaculate.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to acknowledge Francisca Arroyo for technical assistance.

Funding

This project was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (BFU-2013- 44290-R). The funding body had no involvement in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ginemed, Farmacéutico Murillo Herrera, 3, 41010, Sevilla, Spain

    Mercedes González Martínez, Pascual Sánchez-Martín & Mónica Dorado-Silva

  2. Genetics Unit, INIBIC-Complejo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña (CHUAC), As Xubias, 84, 15006, A Coruña, Spain

    José Luís Fernández

  3. Unit of Genetics, Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 20849, Madrid, Spain

    Estibaliz Girones & Jaime Gosálvez

  4. School of Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, 4070, Australia

    Stephen D. Johnston

  5. School of Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, 4343, Australia

    Stephen D. Johnston

Authors
  1. Mercedes González Martínez
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  2. Pascual Sánchez-Martín
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  3. Mónica Dorado-Silva
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  4. José Luís Fernández
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  5. Estibaliz Girones
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  6. Stephen D. Johnston
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  7. Jaime Gosálvez
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Contributions

PS-M, MD-S, JLF, SDJ and JG were involved in the experimental design. MD-S, JLF, and EG processed samples. EG, SDJ, and KG drafted the manuscript. SDJ revised the manuscript. JG conducted the statistical analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen D. Johnston.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the GINEMED Ethics Committee (Protocol Version v-4).

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Martínez, M.G., Sánchez-Martín, P., Dorado-Silva, M. et al. Magnetic-activated cell sorting is not completely effective at reducing sperm DNA fragmentation. J Assist Reprod Genet 35, 2215–2221 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-018-1319-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-018-1319-x

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