High ligation of varicocele improves sperm DNA integrity in patients with asthenospermia / 中南大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To assess how high ligation of varicocele improves sperm DNA integrity in patients with asthenospermia.@*METHODS@#The DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and semen analysis were conducted in 30 subjects with normal sperm samples, and the parameters were used as references. Fifty-six patients from the Department of Urology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from April 2009 to April 2011 all signed the informed consent. Semen was collected 1 week before the high ligation of varicocele and 3 months after the surgery. We compared the change of the integrity of sperm DNA and semen.@*RESULTS@#Three months after the high ligation of varicocele, DFI and semen indexes significantly improved (P0.05). Six months later, 27 spouses were pregnant out of the 53 surgical patients (50.9%). DFI of the pregnancy group and the non-pregnancy group was (13.90±9.70)% and (20.10±10.27)%, with significant different (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Varicocelectomy can improve the sperm DNA integrity in patients with asthenospermia, whose effect is not related to surgical approach, unilateral or bilateral varicocele or varicocele grade.