Reproduction Abstracts

Background: A large population of apparently normal males have problem impregnating their partners even when their fertility status by physical examination and endocrine laboratory test is considered normal.

Aim: To investigate the effects of alcohol on sperm DNA and fertility outcomes.

Materials and methods: The experiment involved four groups of 20 adult male Sprague–Dawley rats which were randomly divided into groups of five rats each. The experimental animals were administered 30% v/v of ethanol at a concentration of 2 g/kg body weight while the control animals received distilled water. The experiment lasted for 4 and 8 weeks. At the end of each duration, the animals were introduced to female Sprague–Dawley rats on the pro-estrous day of their cycle. After a period of over 48 h the male animals were withdrawn, the testis and cauda epididymis harvested for oxidative stress levels and semen analysis respectively. Sperm DNA fragmentations were also measured.

Results: There was a significant decrease in sperm count, sperm motility, and the number of foetuses sired by the animals that received alcohol compared to controls. There was also a significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, sperm DNA fragmentation of animals that received alcohol compared to controls.

Conclusions: Alcohol-induced oxidative stress increases sperm DNA fragmentation altering the ability of spermatozoa to fertilize oocytes and the sperm capacity to trigger the fertilized oocyte development for implantation.