A comparison of alternative assays to measure DNA damage in stallion spermatozoa: TUNEL test versus 'Nicoletti assay'. 2015

Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
University of Pannonia Department of Limnology, Institute of Environmental Sciences Wartha Vince u. 1 H-8200 Veszprém Hungary.

The aberrations of sperm DNA may cause various problems and have negative consequences on fertility. These influence embryonic development or might lead to early embryo loss. Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA) is the flow cytometric method most often used for the detection of DNA lesions; however, some studies using that method reached confusing conclusions. The aim of this pilot study was to adjust and compare two alternative tests, namely the TUNEL test and the Nicoletti assay. The above-mentioned two flow cytometric methods capable of detecting the fragmented DNA of sperm were tested on 12 frozen-thawed stallion semen samples. The TUNEL test demonstrated much higher DNA fragmentation ratio than the Nicoletti assay (mean ± SD: 30.77 ± 13.03% vs. 1.93 ± 0.89%, respectively). A fluorescent microscopic check of the samples showed that TUNEL labelled the plasma membrane and the mitochondria in a nonspecific way, rather than detecting only the fragmented DNA, thus eventually resulting in a false positive sign. The Nicoletti assay is simpler, quicker and does not detect nonspecific binding; however, further analyses are required to determine its diagnostic value.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
November 2016, Andrologia,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
March 2007, Genetics and molecular research : GMR,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
October 2010, Andrologia,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
September 2013, Andrology,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
January 2005, Methods in molecular medicine,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
February 1995, Journal of biochemical and biophysical methods,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
September 2004, Theriogenology,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
August 2001, Human reproduction (Oxford, England),
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
February 2011, International journal of andrology,
Balázs Kakasi, and Szabolcs Nagy, and László Pál, and Gyula E Czimber, and Ferenc Husvéth
December 2010, Urology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!