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Updated: Jul 27, 2025
Flow Cytometric Analysis of Biomarkers for Detecting Human Sperm Functional Defects
Published on: April 21, 2022
The number of retrieved oocytes is correlated to sperm DNA fragmentation when predicting pregnancy outcomes
Zhihang Zhang1,2, Chao Yu3, Ziqi Chu1
1Shuguang Clinical Medical College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shanghai, China.
Objectives:
To analyze the correlation between age and sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), and determine whether the number of eggs retrieved from the female partner was associated with the impact of sperm DFI on clinical pregnancy rates.
Methods:
A retrospective analysis of 896 couples aged 19-58 years who were treated at our hospital between 2019 and 2021 was performed to analyse male semen parameters and to investigate the correlation between male age, semen parameters and DFI. In total, data from 330 cycles of assisted reproduction in couples over 40 years of age were analyzed, including 66 cycles with a normal DFI (≤ 15) and 264 cycles with an abnormal DFI (> 15), so as to correlate clinical outcomes based on the number of eggs retrieved per woman and DFI. In order to identify factors associated with clinical outcomes, logistic regression analysis was carried out.
Results:
There was no significant decrease in semen parameters (motility and concentration) with increasing age of the male partner (P > 0.05). DFI was positively correlated with male age and was significantly higher when age was ≥ 40 years (P = 0.002). A lower number of eggs retrieved (< 4) led to a reduced clinical pregnancy rate; with similar outcomes being found for a reduction in DFI.
Conclusion:
When male partner age exceeded 40 years, both the DFI and the number of eggs retrieved affected the clinical pregnancy rate.
