ANALYSIS OF CHROMOSOMAL-ABNORMALITIES IN HUMAN SPERM AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY BY KARYOTYPING AND FLUORESCENCE IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION (FISH)

The frequency of numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities wa s studied in the sperm of a lymphoma patient 3 years after MACOP-B che motherapy (CT). Sperm karyotyping was performed by fusion of human spe rm with hamster oocytes and analysis of 193 Q-banded sperm chromosomes . Multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed o n 10,228 sperm for analysis of disomy frequencies for chromosomes 1 an d 12 and on 10,664 sperm for chromosomes X and Y. Sperm karyotyping de monstrated numerical abnormalities in 7.3% of the spreads, 6.7% hypoha ploid and 0.5% hyperhaploid, giving a conservative estimate of aneuplo idy of 1%. Structural chromosomal abnormalities were present in 7.3% o f the karyotypes and 0.5% had both numerical and structural abnormalit ies. Results of FISH analyses yielded disomy frequencies of 0.10%, 0.1 1%, 0.04%, 0.05%, and 0.18% for chromosomes 1, 12, X, Y, and XY, respe ctively. The frequency of diploid sperm was 0.09%. The frequency of ab normalities was not significantly increased compared to control donors for any of the studies. Also, the frequencies of X- and Y-bearing spe rm did not differ significantly from 50% in the sperm karyotyping or F ISH studies.