Sperm Abnormalities Correlate With Age: Presented at ASRM

35 Years: the Border Between Good and Bad Sperm?


excerpts:

Sperm Abnormalities Correlate With Age: Presented at ASRM
By Crina Frincu-Mallos, PhD

WASHINGTON, DC -- October 23, 2007 --
A team of German researchers approached this issue from the point of view of sperm genome quality, and are drawing the line between good and bad sperm at age 35, according to a study reported here at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

The researchers triggered the DNA fragmentation, or rather the amount of sperm with fragmented DNA and attempted to correlate it with the patient's age, explained Thomas Winkle, Doctoral Researcher, Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Genetics, ReproGen-Ulm, Ulm, Germany, in an interview on October 16.

Semen samples were collected from all patients accrued in this study at the IVF-Zentrum, Ulm, Germany. Patients were between 24 and 47 years old.

For their preliminary study, the researchers analysed DNA fragmentation on semen samples from the first 56 patients was performed using propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. The statistical analysis was done using the student's t-test.

The researchers found was that, patients under the age 35 years had a 14.32% mean rate of DNA fragmentated spermatozoa, whereas in patients 36 and older, the mean rate was 20.25%, a statistically significant difference (P <.05).

At the ends of the spectrum, in the subgroup of patients younger than 30 years, the mean rate of DNA fragmentated spermatozoa was 14.05%, while in the subgroup above 40 years old, the percentage went up to 20.27%, said the researchers.



Since patients aged 36 years or more had much higher rates of DNA fragmented sperm, the researchers suggested that these patients would have a reduced chance for successful assisted reproductive technology.

The final results of the study are expected by the beginning of 2008. The total accrual goal is about 300 patients, and right now there are approximately 250 patients in the study, said Winkle.



[Presentation title: 35 Years: the Border Between Good and Bad Sperm? Abstract P-785]

CNV associated mental retardation is mental retardation associated with older fathers? Yes

CNV-associated mental retardation
copy number variation-associated mental retardation
Whole-genome analysis using high-density single-nucleotide-polymorphism oligonucleotide arrays allows identification of microdeletions, microduplications, and uniparental disomies. Some have been associated with mental retardation.
References
Wagenstaller J, Spranger S, Lorenz-Depiereux B, Kazmierczak B, Nathrath M, Wahl D, Heye B, Glaser D, Liebscher V, Meitinger T, Strom TM. Copy-number variations measured by single-nucleotide-polymorphism oligonucleotide arrays in patients with mental retardation. Am J Hum Genet. 2007 Oct;81(4):768-79. PMID: 17847001


What else is science is not correctly reported to the public?? http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5949034802461518010

Men Should Father Before Sperm Mutations Accumulate The 20s-early 30s Are Best Time to Father Babies

High Schools, Colleges, etc. should not let this article be lost; it is excellent. Doctors should learn this information


This information is not really so new but Mark Teich writes a landmark article on the subject:

A Man's Shelf Life


As men age, their fertility decreases and the health risks to their unborn offspring skyrocket.

By:Mark Teich


"Nonetheless, a virtual tidal wave of recent research has made it irrefutable: Not only does male fertility decrease decade by decade, especially after age 35, but aging sperm can be a significant and sometimes the only cause of severe health and developmental problems in offspring, including autism, schizophrenia, and cancer. The older the father, the higher the risk. But what's truly noteworthy is not that infertility increases with age—to some degree, we've known that all along—but rather that older men who can still conceive may have such damaged sperm that they put their offspring at risk for many types of disorders and disabilities.
"Men thought they were getting off scot free, and they weren't. The birth defects caused by male aging are significant conditions that can cause a burden to families and society," says Ethylin Wang Jabs, professor of pediatric genetics at Johns Hopkins University and leader of a recent study showing the link between aging paternity and certain facial deformities in offspring. "We now know that men and women alike could be increasing the risk of infertility or birth defects by waiting too long to have children." In other words, by looking for perfection in your life before you conceive, there's a very real chance you'll have less perfect kids."