Sperm DNA Fragmentation and Early Markers of Sperm Apoptosis
(Tunel Assay and measurement of Activated Caspases, and Annexin V Columns - MACS)
Nowadays, standard assessment of the semen includes mainly the analysis of its concentration, motility and morphology. However, some studies have already showed that there are some other predictive variables in an IVF cycle: DNA fragmentation and early markers of apoptosis (programmed cell death) are important issues.
Tunel assay and measurement of activated caspases allow us identifying if the semen sample has a high index of DNA fragmentation and/or high level of early markers of apotosis, giving the patients a more precise assessment about their prognosis. Besides, the development of an experimental technique called Annexin V columns would let the embryologists "filter" the sperms with theses markers, and choose the good ones for doing the ICSI.
In CEGYR, semen evaluation is very important. There is a team of biologists working on this issue day by day. Both techniques, the evaluation of those markers (Tunel assay and activated caspases) and the filtering of the best sperms (Annexin V columns) are performed with initial very good results.
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