About one out of five Pregnant women a miscarriage is experienced. The causes remain unclear. If any risk factors will be sought, usually in the case of women. For some time, researchers suspect, however, that the quality of the sperm may be responsible for a miscarriage. For this suspicion, a British study provides new clues.
The researchers from the Imperial College, London, had analysed the sperm of 50 men whose female partners at least three times in a row, a child in front of the 20. Week of pregnancy had lost. It showed that their cum was roughly twice as often damage to the genetic material of the sperm cells of about 60 men from a comparison group, whose partners had experienced a miscarriage.
Question about sperm health is neglected
“Until now, Physicians concentrate in finding the cause for recurrent miscarriages, especially in women,” says Channa Jayasena, lead author of the study published in the journal “Clinical Chemistry”. “The health of the men and their sperm is, however, neglected.”
The current investigation provide further evidence that the quality of sperm is not only crucial for a successful fertilization, but also for the pregnancy. The study is not representative, but confirms previous studies. So research had shown that the sperm cells play an important role in the formation of the placenta that supplies the fetus with oxygen and nutrients.
A miscarriage is the loss of not more than 500 grams of heavy Unborn. Starting at a higher weight, the talk is of a stillbirth. The risk for a miscarriage is in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy are particularly high. For many women, the desire to have children after a miscarriage, but still true. Some suffer several miscarriages in a row, the doctors then speak of a habitual Abortion. It is estimated that about three percent of all couples are affected.
The reasons for miscarriage are varied at the same time, the cause is often not clear. Sometimes a faulty development of the embryo is the cause, but also the consumption of alcohol of the mother, and Stress can promote a miscarriage, the guideline for the treatment of women who suffer from multiple miscarriage. Other risk factors include diseases, malformations of the uterus, chromosomal abnormalities, hormonal disturbances or autoimmune diseases.
Infections, Age, Obesity
A semen analysis is not recommended in the guideline so far, these pairs could help, write British researchers. According to estimates, almost one in every ten Couple between 25 and 59 years, will remain in Germany to conceive.
The current study also indicates the factors which reduce the quality of sperm. Thus, the men whose partners were affected by miscarriages, increasingly, so-called Reactive oxygen species (ROS) found in the sperm. Are referred to, it is easier also than oxygen radicals. These are formed according to the researchers in the seminal fluid and to protect the sperm from bacteria and infections.
In an elevated concentration they can cause damage to the sperm cells significantly and, thus, according to the researchers, the cause of the increased genetic damage in the sperm.
Why the sperm of male patients contained more oxygen radicals than in the average, is unclear. A cause could be additional infections, such as chlamydia, even if none of the subjects tested positive for infection. “However, it could be love from previous infections germs in the prostate verb,” says Jayasena.
Also, the weight and age might have an impact according to the study, on the success of the pregnancy. So the men, whose women were affected by an Abortion were, on average, seven years older and more often obese than men in the comparison group.
The researchers now want to find out whether these factors lead to an increased concentration of oxygen radicals. “So we can develop, perhaps therapies that reduce the concentration of these molecules and the Chance of a healthy pregnancy,” the researchers write.