Impact of freezing/thawing technique on sperm DNA integrity in HIV-1 patients.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: According french legislation, sperm freezing/thawing procedures are used to prevent ART contaminations in couple with HIV-1 infected men. We determined sperm nuclear fragmentation rate before and after selection and freezing/thawing in HIV-1 14 patients. METHODS: Two groups of patients were studied 20 control patients with normal sperm (group 1) and without viral infection and 20 fertile treated HIV-1 patients (group 2). DNA fragmentation was evaluated using terminal uridine nick end labeling, before and after gradient selection, and after cryopreservation and thawing procedures. RESULTS: DNA fragmentation rates in fresh semen were increased in HIV patients (6.38% vs 3.39%) (p < 0.05) compared with control patients. After sperm migration, fragmentation rates were significantly lower (p < 0.0001) in the two groups compared with fresh sperm rates. After freezing/thawing, values were similar to those of fresh semen with an increased rate (p < 0.01) for HIV-1 patients, with respectively 3.40% and 5.18% rates in control and infected patients. HIV-1-infected patients treated by antiretroviral therapy showed a significant increase in sperm DNA fragmentation in fresh sperm and also after freezing/thawing procedures, but these two fragmentation rates were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: So, freezing/thawing procedures do not seem to impair sperm DNA and preserve probability of conception for couples with HIV-1 infected men.