Examination of the effect of body mass index on sperm parameters and sperm DNA fragmentation

Obesity is defined as "excessive fat accumulation in the body to the extent that it impairs health" by the World Health Organization. Increasing obesity rates have become an important problem since obesity causes many diseases. Since overweight causes hormonal disorders, it also negatively affects the reproductive function. The cause of infertility is male infertility and couple infertility in 30% and 40% of cases respectively. Major indicators of male infertility are semen volume, sperm concentration, motility, progression, morphology. In recent years, besides the effects of body mass index on sperm parameters, the effect of sperm cells on the molecular composition has been a matter of debate. In this thesis, sperm parameters, maturation and DNA fragmentation in ideal weight (1. Group), overweight (2. Group) and obese (3. Group) individuals were examined and the effect of weight on male reproductive potential was shown. The study was applied to patients who applied to Biruni University Hospital for semen analysis. Standard semen analysis was done in all three groups. Acridine orange was used for DNA fragmentation test, aniline blue was used for maturation analysis, and chromomycin A3 (CMA3) staining method was used for sperm chromatin condensation. As a result of the study, it was observed that overweight did not affect sperm concentration (1. Group: 55 milyon/ml, 2. Group: 64,20 milyon/ml, 3. Group: 47,65 milyon/ml; p>0.1) and motility (progressive motility=1. Group: %41, 2. Group: %42,6, 3. Group: %35,4; p>0.1), while it increased sperm morphology (normal=1. Group: %4, 2. Group: %4,9, 3. Group: %3,1; p<0.05), sperm maturation disorders (anilin blue=1. Group: %42,4, 2. Group: %41,8, 3. Group: %67,8; p<0.01) and DNA fragmentation (akridin orange=1. Group: %44,9, 2. Group: %45,3, 3. Group: %67,1; p<0.01). Even if the increase in BMI does not have a clinically significant negative effect on concentration and motility, sperm quality deteriorates and male fertility may be negatively affected by increased SDF in obese individuals. Key words: Body mass index, male infertility, obesity, sperm DNA fragmentation