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The Comet Assay

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A Clinician's Guide to Sperm DNA and Chromatin Damage

Abstract

The comet assay is one of the techniques that has been extensively used to assess DNA damage in both the somatic cells and the spermatozoa over the past years. The results are robust and, as difference with other strategies to assess DNA damage, information about the presence of single-strand breaks (SSBs) or double-strand breaks (DSBs) can be obtained. The characterization of SSBs and DSBs profiles provides a more comprehensive analysis of sperm DNA quality for their clinical application. In this chapter, the utility comet assay as a diagnostic test for male infertility and as a prognostic test for assisted reproductive techniques is summarized.

The characterization of SSB and DSB profiles provides a more comprehensive analysis of sperm DNA quality for potential clinical application. In this chapter, we describe the different types of comet assay strategies to assess for the presence of SSBs and/or DSBs. Additionally, some characteristics related to the presence of alkali-labile sites in alkaline comet are also presented. The utility of the comet assay as a diagnostic test for male infertility and as a prognostic test for assisted reproductive techniques is summarized.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Centro de Investigación Biomédica del Noreste, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, IMSS, Monterrey, Mexico

    Elva I. Cortés-Gutiérrez & Martha I. Dávila-Rodríguez

  2. Unit of Genetics, Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Elva I. Cortés-Gutiérrez, Martha I. Dávila-Rodríguez & Carmen López-Fernández

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  1. Elva I. Cortés-Gutiérrez
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  2. Martha I. Dávila-Rodríguez
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  3. Carmen López-Fernández
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Correspondence to Elva I. Cortés-Gutiérrez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Armand Zini

  2. American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Ashok Agarwal

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Cortés-Gutiérrez, E.I., Dávila-Rodríguez, M.I., López-Fernández, C. (2018). The Comet Assay. In: Zini, A., Agarwal, A. (eds) A Clinician's Guide to Sperm DNA and Chromatin Damage. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71815-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71815-6_7

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