SummarySperm DNA fragmentation is referred to as one of the main causes of male infertility. Failures in the protamination process, apoptosis and action of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are considered the most important causes of DNA fragmentation. Action of ROS or changes in sperm protamination would increase the susceptibility of sperm DNA to fragmentation. Routine semen analysis is unable to estimate sperm chromatin damage. Sperm DNA integrity influences sperm functional capability, therefore tests that measure sperm DNA fragmentation are important to assess fertility disorders. Actually, there is a considerable number of methods for assessing sperm DNA fragmentation and chromatin integrity, sperm chromatin stability assay (SCSA modified), sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD), comet assay, transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL); and protamine evaluation in sperm chromatin assay, such as toluidine blue, CMA3, protamine expression and evaluation of cysteine radicals. This review aims to describe the main causes of sperm DNA fragmentation and the tests commonly used to evaluate sperm DNA fragmentation.

中文翻译：

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精子 DNA 片段化：原因和鉴定

摘要精子 DNA 片段化被认为是男性不育的主要原因之一。protamination 过程中的失败、细胞凋亡和活性氧 (ROS) 的作用被认为是 DNA 片段化的最重要原因。活性氧的作用或精子蛋白化的变化会增加精子 DNA 对片段化的敏感性。常规精液分析无法估计精子染色质损伤。精子 DNA 完整性会影响精子的功能，因此测量精子 DNA 片段化的测试对于评估生育障碍很重要。实际上，评估精子DNA片段化和染色质完整性的方法有相当多的，精子染色质稳定性测定（SCSA修改），精子染色质分散（SCD），彗星测定，转移酶dUTP缺口末端标记（TUNEL）；精子染色质测定中的鱼精蛋白评估，如甲苯胺蓝、CMA3、鱼精蛋白的表达和半胱氨酸自由基的评估。本综述旨在描述精子 DNA 片段化的主要原因以及通常用于评估精子 DNA 片段化的测试。