JBRA Assisted Reproduction 2025;29(Suppl.2 SBRA 2025):36
Poster Presentation
29^th Annual Congress of the SBRA. São Paulo/SP - Brazil, 2025
doi: 10.5935/1518-0557.20263560

P-024. Association Between Seminal Parameters and Sperm DNA Fragmentation

Renata dos Reis Pimentel de Castro¹, Luana Mara Silva de Castro Pacheco da Cunha², Andrea Mesquita Lima¹, Gleicyane Sousa Santos Alam¹, Sebastião Evangelista Torquato Filho¹, Tulius Augustus Ferreira Freitas¹, Fábio Eugênio Magalhães Rodrigues¹, Marcus Aurélio Bessa Paiva¹

¹ Bios Centro de Medicina Reprodutiva, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil
² UNIFOR - Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil

Objective: To evaluate the association between the period of ejaculatory abstinence and the rate of sperm DNA fragmentation in men attending a reproductive medicine center.
Methods: This was a retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional, and quantitative study, based on the analysis of 300 semen samples collected between January 2020 and May 2023. Participants were men aged 20 to 60 who underwent semen analysis with capacitation and sperm DNA fragmentation testing. Samples were obtained through masturbation after a medically guided abstinence period. Data were extracted from clinical records and included: age, sperm concentration, motility, viscosity, pH, ejaculate color, liquefaction, abstinence period, and DNA fragmentation. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22, with statistical significance considered at p<0.05.
Results: Participants were divided into three groups according to DNA fragmentation levels: normal (<15%; n=62), moderate (15–30%; n=202), and abnormal (>30%; n=36). The average age was 38.72 years (±6.69), with the majority (67.7%) between 34 and 46 years old. Most participants (85.3%) reported an abstinence period of 0 to 1 day, with no statistically significant association between abstinence duration and DNA fragmentation (p=0.686). No significant associations were found with age (p=0.375) or sperm concentration (p=0.543). However, a statistically significant association was observed between DNA fragmentation and sperm motility parameters. The frequency of men with total motility below 42% was higher in the group with moderate fragmentation (p=0.014). Additionally, abnormal fragmentation was significantly more prevalent among individuals with progressive motility below 30% (22.2%) compared to those with normal motility (7.6%) (p=0.001). These findings suggest that elevated levels of sperm DNA fragmentation are associated with reduced sperm motility. Other seminal parameters, such as pH, viscosity, and ejaculate color, showed no significant association with DNA fragmentation.
Conclusion: The study found no significant association between sperm DNA fragmentation and ejaculatory abstinence period, age, or sperm concentration. However, a statistically significant association was identified between DNA fragmentation and both total and progressive sperm motility. This indicates that sperm DNA integrity may be directly related to sperm motility, making it a relevant factor in the evaluation of male fertility. These findings reinforce the importance of including sperm DNA fragmentation testing in the routine investigation of male infertility, particularly in cases of reduced motility, regardless of abstinence duration.