MALE-INFERTILITY ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA REARRANGEMENTS

Male sterility results from a number of characterized exogeneous or ge netic dysfunctions preventing normal differentiation into mobile spemz atozoa. This may now be overcome by intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). This practice does not require mobile, or even mature spermato zoa for in vitro fecondation. However, a functional respiratory chain, partly encoded by the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), is required for the mobility of the spermatozoa. We report the case of an infertile patien t who wished to procreate ICSI was proposed but he displayed multiple mtDNA deletions of possible nuclear origin in the spermatozoa and in t he deltoid muscle Even though mtDNA is maternally inherited, the possi bility of a nuclear-driven mutation affecting the integrity of the mtD NA should be taken into account when ICSI is to beperformed. Together with recent genetic in vitro manipulations in mammals, our data point to the importance of studying the mtDNA structure in human spermatozoa , and the potential risks of these non-natural practices for procreati on.