Diabetes Damages DNA In Men’s Sperm

A new study has shown that the sperm from diabetic men has larger levels of DNA damage than sperm from men who are not diabetic. Scientists are warning that this amount of DNA damage could directly affect their fertility.

The study concluded that…

1. The DNA in the nuclei of the sperm cells had an increased, 52%, levels of fragmentation than nondiabetic men, 32%.

2. There was an increased amount of deletions of DNA among diabetic men in the energy generating structures of the cells, mitochondria, compared to non diabetics. The results were 4, diabetics, to 3, nondiabetics.

“Our study shows increased levels of sperm DNA damage in diabetic men. From a clinical perspective this is important, particularly given the overwhelming evidence that sperm DNA damage impairs male fertility and reproductive health. Other studies have already shown that, while the female egg has a limited ability to repair damaged sperm DNA, fragmentation beyond this threshold may result in increased rates of embryonic failure and pregnancy loss.

Given the huge increase in diabetics worldwide, fertility issues that are linked to diabetes would be a welcome area of research.

There are three things we need to look at – the number of men with diabetes and fertility problems, we need to look at children of diabetic fathers to see if there is an impact on their health and we need to find the exact nature of the DNA damage.

via Eye on DNA

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