OBJECTIVE: To examine levels of sperm DNA damage and oxidative stress (OS) in infertile men with varicocele. DESIGN: Prospective controlled study. SETTING: Male infertility clinic, Glickman Urological Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. PATIENT(S): Thirty-one infertility patients and 16 fertile controls. INTERVENTION(S): Sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), levels of seminal reactive oxygen species (ROS), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were ... Read more

Conclusions: The results of this study indicated a significant incresae of SCSA-defined sperm nuclear DNA damage can be found in sperm from infertile men with normal standard semen parameters. Therefore, sperm DNA damage analysis may reveal a hidden abnormality of sperm DNA in infertile men who were previously classified as idiopathic based on apparantly normal standard semen parameters. Read more