Epigenetic Alterations in Male Infertility

During spermatogenesis, spermatozoa undergo several epigenetic modifications resulting in the formation of spermatozoa with a unique epigenome, which could however, later on be altered by several factors. Paternal epigenome is very important for sperm function, fertilization, embryo development and offspring’s health. Altered epigenetic states could be associated with impaired semen parameters and ART outcomes. More importantly, altered sperm epigenetics can have an effect on the offspring’s health leading to the development of disease due to epigenetic inheritance, where paternal epigenetic alterations can be transmitted to the offspring through sperm and influence their phenotype. This brings up the possibility of identifying new candidates as epigenetic biomarkers for improvement in diagnosis, development of targeted therapies and allowing an early detection of susceptibility of transmission of non-genetic disease to offspring. Still there is much to be done in this intriguing field of epigenetics, and further basic and translational studies are necessary.