The Relationship between Body Mass Index, Metal Elements, and Antioxidant Capacity of Semen on The Human Sperm Chromatin

Sperm chromatin abnormalities are defects in nuclear maturation and DNA integrity. These defectsoriginated from defective spermatogenesis due to a lack of DNA repair during chromatin remodeling. Changes insemen elements can cause damage to chromatin. There is little information about the relationship between changesin trace metal elements and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) with sperm chromatin damage. The present study wasconducted to determine the relationship between Selenium (Se), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu) and the TAC ofsemen with the status of human sperm chromatin.

In this experimental study, semen samples (n=30) were collected from healthy men referredto Kermanshah Motazadi Hospital and stored in liquid nitrogen; after thawing and centrifugation, sperm were separated.The atomic absorption method was used to measure the concentration of metal elements. The TAC was evaluatedusing the ferric-reducing antioxidant capacity of the plasma method. Furthermore, the integrity of sperm chromatinwas measured using the sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) method.

The status of sperm chromatin had a non-significant correlation with body mass index (BMI, P=0.25, r=0.21)and a non-significant negative correlation with sperm count (P=0.71, r=-0.71) and motility (P=0.75, r=0.61). In addition,there was no significant relationship between sperm chromatin and the TAC of semen (P=0.92, r=0.01). Additionally,there was no significant correlation between Se, Zn, or Cu concentration (P>0.05) and Fe concentration,which had a partially positive relationship with the chromatin state of sperm (P=0.24, r=0.20).

The trace metal elements in the seminal fluid did not play a significant role in the status of sperm chromatin.