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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The association between subsets of male infertility, oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT), obstructive azoospermic (OA), non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), and increased risk of having chromosomal abnormalities in the sperm has not been investigated. Chromosomal aneuploidy in sperm will be systematically investigated by standard methods with large sample sizes required to present significance. METHODS: Triple colour FISH analysis of chromosomes 18, X and Y and dual colour FISH analysis of chromosomes 13 and 21 were performed on spermatozoa retrieved from OAT patients, OA patients and NOA and control. RESULTS: 101,490 spermatozoa retrieved from OAT patients, 101,435 from OA patients, 12,200 from NOA patients and 101,486 from normal fertile men were examined. The three infertile patient groups had significantly increased rates of chromosomal aneuploidies (13.61% in OAT, 5.23% in OA, and 15.00% in NOA), compared with that in control group (1.50%; P< 0.0001). All the differences among the three infertile groups reached a significant level (P< 0.0001). The rates of nullisomy for sex chromosomes, and chromosomes 13,18 and 21 in three infertile groups were significantly higher than that in control group (P