Male obesity and age in relationship to semen parameters and sperm chromatin integrity

Obesity can adversely affect human health, including fertility. While obesity can disturb the hormonal profile of the female organism and is associated with fertility loss, little is known about what effect male obesity has on fertility. The present study analysed sperm samples of 153 donors. The men were selected from couples attending an infertility clinic, who had tried for 12 months or more to achieve pregnancy without success. The age of the men under investigation was recorded, and their body mass index (BMI) was calculated. All semen samples were assessed for volume, concentration, motility and morphology. Sperm chromatin integrity was measured by sperm chromatin structure assay. Quality of sperm chromatin condensation was assessed by toluidine blue, aniline blue and chromomycin A3 staining. We can conclude that the impact of elevated BMI on the parameters investigated (basic semen parameters, chromatin integrity and chromatin condensation) was not proven in this study. On the other hand, ejaculate quality appeared to be affected by ageing. The impact was reflected by chromatin integrity, which is a factor that can substantially affect fertility in men, rather than by basic sperm parameters.