Investigating the Impact of Lifestyle on Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity on Sperm Cells Originating From Infertile Men Undergoing IVF Treatment

Following approval of the study by the Hospital Ethical Committee (Helsinki), semen samples and blood will be collected from infertile individuals referred to our IVF unit at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center. Informed written consent will be obtained from each participant. Standard semen analysis will be carried out according to World Health Organization protocol. An aliquot of semen sample will be used for assessment of sperm motility, concentration, and morphology by using computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) and the remaining sample will be used for assessment of sperm telomere lengths and telomerase activity. Genomic DNA will be extracted from the remaining washed sperm and peripheral blood. Sperm telomere length will be determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and telomerase activity will be determined by TRAP assay (Telomeric Repeat Amplification Protocol).