The accurate prediction of male fertility is of major economic importance in the animal breeding industry. However, the results of conventional semen analysis do not always correlate with field fertility outcomes. There is evidence to indicate that mammalian fertilization and subsequent embryo development depend, in part, on the inherent integrity of the sperm DNA. Understanding the complex packaging of mammalian sperm chromatin and assessment of DNA integrity could potentially provide a benchmark in clinical infertility. In the era of assisted reproduction, especially when in-vitro fertilization or gamete intrafallopian transfer or intracytoplasmic sperm injection is used, assessment of sperm DNA integrity is important because spermatozoa are not subjected to the selection process occurring naturally in the female reproductive tract. Although sperm DNA integrity testing measures a significant biological parameter, its precise role in the infertility evaluation in farm animals remains unclear. In this review, the earlier findings on sperm DNA integrity in relation to male fertility are compiled and analyzed. Furthermore, the causes and consequences of sperm DNA damage are described, together with a review of advances in methods for detection of sperm DNA damage, and the prognostic value of sperm DNA quality on male fertility.

准确预测雄性生育力在动物育种业中具有重要的经济意义。然而，传统精液分析的结果并不总是与田间生育结果相关。有证据表明，哺乳动物的受精和随后的胚胎发育部分取决于精子 DNA 的固有完整性。了解哺乳动物精子染色质的复杂包装和评估 DNA 完整性可能为临床不孕症提供基准。在辅助生殖时代，尤其是当体外使用受精或配子输卵管内移植或胞浆内单精子注射，评估精子 DNA 完整性非常重要，因为精子不受女性生殖道中自然发生的选择过程的影响。尽管精子 DNA 完整性测试可测量重要的生物学参数，但其在农场动物不育评估中的确切作用仍不清楚。在这篇综述中，对精子 DNA 完整性与男性生育能力相关的早期发现进行了汇编和分析。此外，还描述了精子 DNA 损伤的原因和后果，回顾了精子 DNA 损伤检测方法的进展，以及精子 DNA 质量对男性生育力的预后价值。