Involvement of seminal leukocytes, reactive oxygen species, and sperm mitochondrial membrane potential in the DNA damage of the human spermatozoa.

Measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) producing leukocytes in semen has been a standard component of the semen analysis, but its true significance remains still unknown. In this study, we have correlated the number of seminal leukocytes to various semen parameters. We found a negative correlation between the leukocyte number and sperm concentration (rs  = -0.22; p = 0.01) and motility (rs  = -0.20; p = 0.02). In contrast, a positive correlation between the number of leukocytes and both seminal ROS (rs  = 0.70, p < 0.001; n = 125) and the number of spermatozoa with DNA fragmentation (rs  = 0.43, p = 0.032; n = 25) was found. However, only a trend of positive correlation between ROS and the number of spermatozoa with TUNEL-detected DNA fragmentation was observed. Moreover, this latter was not correlated with loss of sperm mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) (10% vs 35%, rs  = 0.25, p = 0.08; n = 50). Overall these results indicate that the presence of high number of leukocytes in the ejaculate negatively affects key semen parameters, as sperm concentration and motility, associated with infertility conditions. Moreover, they suggest that leukocytes are the major source of the seminal ROS and cause of sperm DNA fragmentation. However, the absence of a clear correlation between ROS and sperm DNA fragmentation, and spermatozoa with damaged DNA and MMP loss, suggest that ROS produced by leukocytes might be not the only cause of DNA damage in spermatozoa and that intrinsic mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathways might not have a major impact on sperm DNA fragmentation.

Analysis of programmed cell death in mouse fetal oocytes.

We report a short-term culture system that allows to define novel characteristic of programmed cell death (PCD) in fetal oocytes and to underscore new aspects of this process. Mouse fetal oocytes cultured in conditions allowing meiotic prophase I progression underwent apoptotic degeneration waves as revealed by TUNEL staining. TEM observations revealed recurrent atypical apoptotic morphologies characterized by the absence of chromatin margination and nuclear fragmentation; oocytes with autophagic and necrotic features were also observed. Further characterization of oocyte death evidenced DNA ladder, Annexin V binding, PARP cleavage, and usually caspase activation (namely caspase-2). In the aim to modulate the oocyte death process, we found that the addition to the culture medium of the pan-caspase inhibitors Z-VAD or caspase-2-specific inhibitor Z-VDVAD resulted in a partial and transient prevention of this process. Oocyte death was significantly reduced by the antioxidant agent NAC and partly prevented by KL and IGF-I growth factors. Finally, oocyte apoptosis was reduced by calpain inhibitor I and increased by rapamycin after prolonged culture. These results support the notion that fetal oocytes undergo degeneration mostly by apoptosis. This process is, however, often morphologically atypical and encompasses other forms of cell death including caspase-independent apoptosis and autophagia. The observation that oocyte death occurs mainly at certain stages of meiosis and can only be attenuated by typical anti-apoptotic treatments favors the notion that it is controlled at least in part by stage-specific oocyte-autonomous meiotic checkpoints and when activated is little amenable to inhibition being the oocyte able to switch back and forth among different death pathways.