HUMAN SPERM DECONDENSATION IN VITRO IN THE PRESENCE OF SULFATED GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS: A PREDICTOR OF ALTERATIONS IN CHROMATIN PACKAGING IN INFERTILE PATIENTS?

CAMBIASSO MY; GALOTTO C; LOVAGLIO M; VALIENTE C; SANCHEZ MC; REY VALZACCHI G; CALVO JC; PIÑEIRO L; ROMANATO M

Congreso; REUNIÓN CONJUNTA DE SOCIEDADES DE BIOCIENCIAS. LXII REUNIÓN ANUAL DE LA SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE INVESTIGACIÓN CLÍNICA (SAIC).; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica (SAIC)

Previous results from our laboratory suggested an interaction between heparin sulfate/heparin (HS/H) and dermatan sulfate (DS) in chromatin decondensation in vitro of spermatozoa obtained from normospermic donors. The aim of this study was to evaluate such an interaction in infertile patients and its possible relationship to sperm protamine content. Sperm samples were obtained from 19patients undergoing assisted reproduction. Swim-up spermatozoa were decondensed in vitro with 10 mM GSH and 46 µM H or DS for 15, 30 and 60 minutes. % decondensation (D) was determined by phase contrast microscopy. In 11/19 patients, sperm nuclear proteins were extracted and analyzed by acid PAGE to determine protamine content (P1+P2) and P1/P2 ratio. There were differencesamong patients in sperm decondensation kinetics (D60/D30) with H and DS. H distinguished 2 groups of patients: Fast decondensers (1.07±0.05, n=12), similar to normospermic donors, reached maximum decondensation at 30 minutes and Slow decondensers (1.86±0.05, n=7, p=0.016, cutoff value 1.5) did not. DS, on the other hand, allowed the identification of 3 groups of patients: F (0.92±0.07, n=8), S (1.66±0.08, n=4) and Very Slow decondensers (3.46±0.60,p=0.0001 vs Slow, n=7). In the 11 patients whose protamines were analyzed by PAGE, median P1+P2 content was 553 (InterQuartile range 356-654) ng/106 sperm (normospermic control 680 ng/106 sperm) with P1/P2 = 0.41 (IQ 0.29-0.78) (control 1.1). P1/P2 correlated (Spearman) with P1+P2 (r=0.697, p=0.02) and P1(r=0.957, p