LONDON, May 20 (UPI) -- British researchers said low sperm counts could be linked to genomic imprinting disease and birth defects following assisted reproduction.
Genomic imprinting is the gene regulatory mechanism whereby only one of two parental genetic traits are transferred to an offspring. Imprinting disorders can lead to abnormal fetal development and malignant diseases. Although the disorders have been seen previously in fertilized eggs, this is the first report showing imprinting defects in sperm.
The researchers reported in the British journal The Lancet that they extracted sperm DNA from 123 men with low or normal sperm counts. All the men with normal sperm counts had correct genomic imprinting, but 24 percent of those with low sperm counts showed the defects.
Moreover, they said, the less healthy the sperm, the more imprinting defects were observed.
