[Cytogenetic analysis of sperm chromosomes in couples with habitual abortion]

Genetic factors, especially numerical chromosome anomalies, play an important role in embryonic loss. Since somatic cell analysis cannot assess the risk of errors arising de novo during germ cell maturation, we investigated, whether the male gametes from couples with habitual abortion (group HA) carry a higher rate of anomalies, than those from donors without reproductive dysfunction (group K). Chromosomes were demonstrated after fusion of sperm with zona-free golden hamster ova. Our results indicate no significant difference between the two groups for the total rates of aneuploidy (HA: 3.6%, K: 2.0%) and structural anomalies (HA: 15.3%, K: 7.0%). However, the levels of chromosome breaks and acentric fragments were significantly higher in the abortion group (5.8% and 8.1%, respectively, vs. 2.4% each in group K). The implications of this fact remain to be investigated.