Alterations in the sperm histone-retained epigenome are associated with unexplained male factor infertility and poor blastocyst development in donor oocyte IVF cycles

AbstractSTUDY QUESTIONIs there a distinct sperm histone-retained epigenetic signature in unexplained male factor infertility patients resulting in compromised blastocyst development?SUMMARY ANSWERUsing only donor oocyte IVF cycles, sperm DNA methylation patterns and miRNA profiles were significantly altered in normozoospermic patients resulting in poor blastocyst development, reflecting a subset of unexplained male factor infertility.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYAberrant sperm DNA methylation has been associated with known male factor infertility, particularly noted in oligozoospermic patients. Unexplained male factor infertility remains a significant proportion ofin vitro fertilization failures having unknown underlying physiology.STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATIONSperm samples (n = 40) and blastocysts (n = 48) were obtained during fertile donor oocyte IVF cycles with normozoospermic parameters, thereby excluding known female and male infertility factors. Samples were divided into two groups based on blastocyst development (Good Group = ≥20% embryos with D5 grade ‘AA’ blastocysts, and ≥60% embryos of transferable quality on D5 and D6; Poor Group = ≤10% embryos with D5 grade ‘AA’ blastocysts, and ≤40% embryos of transferable quality on D5 and D6).PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSSamples were obtained from patients undergoing IVF treatments with informed consent and institutional review board approval. The Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip microarray was used to i...
Source: Human Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: research