Analysis of DNA damage in men’s sperm – the Sperm Comet Test
It is more than just the number of sperm and their movement that is important for male fertility.
As most people know, a baby will inherit the DNA of its parents. If the quality of the woman’s eggs is deteriorating with age, it makes it harder for her to get pregnant and have children. It turns out the same is also true for men.
At Medicus, we offer a DNA damage analysis in cooperation with the British company Examen. This test is called the Sperm Comet test and provides information on the degree of DNA damage in sperm. The degree of DNA damage directly correlates with male fertility.
What does the test answer?
The test provides answers to three parameters:
- The average percent of DNA damage per sperm cell in the specimen.
- The proportion of sperm with low DNA damage.
- The proportion of sperm with high DNA damage.
This is the only test that measures the percentage of DNA damage in individual sperm and only requires at least 5000 sperm to do the test.
What can DNA damage in sperm lead to?
The DNA damage in the man’s sperm affects a couple’s ability to successfully have a baby in several ways. It can lead to decreased fertilization, abnormal development of the eggs being fertilized, or pregnancies repeatedly ending at an early stage.
The Sperm Comet test is the only DNA test that is sensitive enough to predict poor reproductive performance, poor embryonic development, and thus also the quality of the blastocyst on day 5.
What can we do with the results of the test?
Based on the results of the test, we can either advise the patient on how to reduce the DNA damage in the sperm itself or create a treatment program based on the information from the Sperm Comet test.
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