The role of DNA damages in ART

Nowadays, the use of fertility treatments is the ideal choice for infertile couples. The success ration of these methods is correlated to the numerous factors including the overall healthiness of the ovule and the sperm. During both the natural and In vitro fertilization (IVF) processes, the possibility of the penetration of the unhealthy and immature sperm into the ovule is highly decreased, but in the microinjection method which is the direct injection of sperm into the cytoplasm of the ovule that barrier does not exist and therefore provoke serious concerns. Moreover, numerous studies about the damages of DNA indicate a significant correlation between the damage of sperm’s DNA and the failure in the formation of the blastocystis, the development of embryo and the successful pregnancy. Nowadays, as the accessibility of fertility technologies, diagnostic instruments and numerous methods to measure the amount of sperms’ DNA damages is increased, their applications are become widespread in the infertile male. Evidences showed that the role of sperm’s DNA damages in the failure of IVF and ICSI, but there is an informational gap about the consequences of those damages in the clinical point of view. There are several ways to measure DNA damage including COMET, sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD, HALLO) and sperm chromatin structure (SCSA, TANEL) which showing different characteristic of DNA damage. More studies should be designated to standardize the methods of assessing the sperm’s DNA damages and to reveal the exact role of those damages in the failure of IVF, ICSI and pregnancy. Due to the fact that some fertility treatments could resulted in pregnancy in spite of sperm defects, the analysis of seminal fluid as an indicator for the healthiness and fertility of the sperms is not adequate and more efficient factors should be implied.