Effects of stress on sperm

Children of stressed fathers are at greater risk of developing PTSD and depression, according to a new study. Researchers found life's pressures can change the DNA of a man's sperm - leading to brain development changes in his yet unborn baby. It's widely known that a mother's environment during pregnancy, including factors such as poor diet, stress and infection, can negatively impact the offspring.

Learning how a father's behavior and environment can impact his child's development could lead to the detection and prevention of many mental health disorders. Researchers have known for years that stress can increase the risk of mental disorders,' Dr Tracy Bale, professor of neuroscience at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told Daily Mail Online. 'What’s interesting here is that we are finding intergenerational effects.'

Researchers, led by Dr Bale, conducted a mice experiment to examine how a father's lifestyle impacts his children. Previously, the team has found male mice experiencing chronic periods of mild stress passed down genetic coding for a less effective hormonal response to stress in children. Three major hormones are released by the nervous system when the body is under stress. These are adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine. Collectively, these hormones send human bodies into ''fight''mode, which is important to the body's ability to cope with the effects of stress.

Stress resulted in changes in sperms genetic material known as microRNA, which plays a key role in which genes become functional proteins. These changes in stress reactivity have been linked to some mental disorders, including depression and PTSD.

In the new study, presented at the 2018 AAAS annual meeting in Austin, Texas, Dr Bale and her colleagues unraveled new details about the microRNA changes in the sperm. The caput epididymis, the structure where sperm matures, release vesicles which contain microRNA that can fuse with sperm to change its cargo delivered to the egg. When males mice were stressed, the caput epididymis responded by altering the content of these vesicles.

This suggests even mild environmental stress, such as workplace stress, can have a significant impact on the development and potentially the health of future offspring. This is through a process known as epigenetics where DNA is changed through lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise - or even stress. Scientists have known a mother's environment during pregnancy can damage a fetus by diet, stress or infection affecting the expression of certain genes in the same way.

Father's stress can affect offspring development by altering important aspects of his sperm. Her previous studies on the placenta have revealed novel sex differences during pregnancy that may predict increased pre-natal risk for neurodevelopmental disorders in males. Historically, most research on how a parent's lifestyle, behavior and environment can affect their children has focused on the mother. But scientists have recently been paying increasing attention to how a father's health impacts his children.
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Causes of IVF failure

The most important variables involved in a successful IVF cycle are a healthy egg, normal, functional sperm, and a uterus that is capable of nurturing the growth of a baby.

The human egg is a very complex structure, it is prone to damage and this can render it nonfunctional which may leads to abnormal distribution of chromosomes and nonviable embryo.

During IVF, cell stage, embryo grade and the rate of cell division will determined embryo selection, embryos that have developed to at least the 6 cell stage have a much better prognosis for success than embryos that have 5 or fewer cells on day three.

The egg retrieval and the embryo transfer to correct location are very important to the success of an IVF cycle. Retrieving fewer eggs than expected, or failure to retrieve any eggs, can affect the success rate.

The IVF laboratory factors can lead to failure of IVF. If the equipment are not functioning properly, poor control of oxygen concentration, carbon dioxide concentration, and other factors such as humidity, PH, temperature and light.
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New method of correcting genetic infertility

Scientists have created healthy offspring from genetically infertile male mice, providing a new  method of correcting a genetic cause of human infertility.

Human sex is determined by the X and Y chromosomes. Usually, girls have two X chromosomes XX and boys have one X and one Y XY, but 1 in 500 boys are born with an extra X or Y.

Having three rather than two sex chromosomes can hinder formation of mature sperm and cause infertility.
Researchers have discovered a way to remove the extra sex chromosome to produce fertile offspring.

 If the findings can be safely transferred into humans, it might eventually be possible for men with Klinefelter syndrome XXY or double Y syndrome XYY that are infertile to have children through assisted reproduction using this method.

Researchers took small pieces of ear tissue from XXY and XYY mice, cultured them, and collected connective tissue cells known as fibroblasts. They turned the fibroblasts into stem cells and noticed that in the process, some of the cells lost the extra sex chromosome.

With an existing method, they used specific chemical signals to control the stem cells into becoming cells that have the potential to become sperm. These cells developed into mature sperm when injected into the testes of a host mouse.

 The researchers then harvested these mature sperm and used them through assisted reproduction to create healthy, fertile offspring.

Sperm cells have been created in the laboratory, offering hope for a cure for a common cause of male infertility.
About 1 in 500 men have an extra X or Y chromosome, which prevents their sperm production.
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Children of older women may develop cancer

Increase in chromosomal mutations as we get older may increase the risk of giving birth to children that will develop cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Increasing chromosomal aberrations with older parental may cause stillbirth or a baby with conditions like autism and Down’s syndrome.

A chromosome mutation is an unpredictable change that occurs in a
chromosome. This change is caused by problems that occur during cell division process.

Increasing new mutations that happens in sperm or egg cells are associated with the parents age. These increases the risk of birth defects related to single gene mutations and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Older parents can reduce the risk by embracing healthy lifestyle, reducing alcohol intake, avoiding smoking and chemical exposure.
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Urogenital infection can cause male infertility

Male infertility contributes to fifty percent of all infertility cases.  In 6-10% the cause is an urogenital infection. The
main cause of inflammatory disease in the male genital tract are sexually transmitted pathogens.

The diagnostic evaluation of urogenital infections in most patients with infertility is hindered by an asymptomatic primary chronic disease course.

Asymptomatic inflammatory reactions are found in 25% of men who undergo testicular biopsy for infertility.

It was discovered that after acute inflammation of the epididymis, in 10% of cases no sperm was found in the ejaculate in the long term, and in 30% the number of spermatozoa were reduced; in 60% of men affected by an infection of the epididymis, the testes were affected too.

 In such cases, testicular atrophy with permanent loss of spermatogenesis is a much feared complication.
If pathogens are detected in the male genital tract, eradicating antibiotic therapy is indicated.

 However, this dies not guarantee that the quality of sperm will not be permanently affected or that the outcome will not be infertility.

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