Assessment of the Sperm DNA Oxidative Damage by Immunofluorescence and Flow Cytometry

Oxidative stress is considered the primary culprit of sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), but it could not result in immediate and detectable breaks in the DNA. Therefore, samples with DNA oxidative damage could pass undetected under the scrutiny of most SDF analyses. Thus, the detection of oxidized bases should be considered for sperm analysis in human clinics and farm animals. These chemical alterations not only could affect fertility, but they also could be diagnostic of systemic problems in the male. This chapter describes a technique for 8-OHdG (also 8-oxo-dG, the most common oxidized base) immunodetection and some aspects that could improve its performance.