Epigenetics of Male Fertility: Effects on Assisted Reproductive Techniques

Filippo Giacone; Rossella Cannarella; Laura M Mongioì; Angela Alamo; Rosita A Condorelli; Aldo E Calogero; Sandro La Vignera

doi:10.5534/wjmh.180071

Epigenetics of Male Fertility: Effects on Assisted Reproductive Techniques

World J Mens Health. 2019 May;37(2):148-156. doi: 10.5534/wjmh.180071. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

Authors

Filippo Giacone¹, Rossella Cannarella¹, Laura M Mongioì¹, Angela Alamo¹, Rosita A Condorelli¹, Aldo E Calogero¹, Sandro La Vignera²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
² Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. sandrolavignera@unict.it.

Abstract

During the last decades the study of male infertility and the introduction of the assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) has allowed to understand that normal sperm parameters do not always predict fertilization. Sperm genetic components could play an important role in the early stages of embryonic development. Based on these acquisitions, several epigenetic investigations have been developed on spermatozoa, with the aim of understanding the multifactorial etiology of male infertility and of showing whether embryonic development may be influenced by sperm epigenetic abnormalities. This article reviews the possible epigenetic modifications of spermatozoa and their effects on male fertility, embryonic development and ART outcome. It focuses mainly on sperm DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling, histone modifications and RNAs.

Keywords: Epigenomics; Infertility; Infertility, male; Reproductive techniques, assisted.

Publication types

Review