{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T17:41:41Z","timestamp":1784914901264,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]],"date-time":"2021-06-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1623715200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005601","name":"University of Ghana","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["University of Ghana Research Fund Grant (URF\/7\/ILG-032\/2013-2014)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["University of Ghana Research Fund Grant (URF\/7\/ILG-032\/2013-2014)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005601","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The present study sought to investigate the common abnormalities and mtDNA mutations in the sperm of Ghanaian men attending the fertility Clinic at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH). The study therefore provides a baseline data mtDNA mutations in a cross-section of Ghanaian men on referral to the fertility clinic at the KBTH.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The semen of 55 men attending the fertility clinic were collected from the Urology and the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Departments of the KBTH. Demographic and clinical data were also collected using questionnaires. Semen analyses were performed and were followed by amplification and purification of mtDNA from total DNA extracted from the semen. Sequencing of the mtDNA amplicons was performed using the next generation sequencer (Illumina-MiSeq).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Asthenozoospermia, oligospermia and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia were observed in 1.79%, 5.36% and 28.57%, respectively, of the study participants. There was no association between drinking and\/or smoking and history of gonorrhea infection on sperm status\/morphology. A total of 785 point mutations were detected in the non-coding control regions, rRNA genes, tRNA genes and the coding regions of the mtDNA samples from the participants. Amongst these mutations, 16 transition mutations were predominantly detected in the mtDNA samples. Missense mutations that were present in only specific sperm abnormalities were identified and they may contribute to infertility in the study population.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The present study has identified various abnormal sperm phenotypes that are prevalent in the study population and provided a baseline data on mtDNA mutations in the spermatozoa of the patients. A wide range of sperm abnormalities were detected in the study population with no association with life style or history of gonorrhea infection. The mtDNA point mutations detected in the selected genes that were analysed were mostly transition mutations. These transition mutations might be critical for the development of abnormal sperm phenotypes underlying male infertility in the Ghanaian population.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0252923","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]],"date-time":"2021-06-15T17:29:46Z","timestamp":1623778186000},"page":"e0252923","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Sperm parameters and mitochondrial DNA sequence variants among patients at a fertility clinic in Ghana"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Bartholomew","family":"Dzudzor","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bismarck","family":"Bimah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincent","family":"Amarh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1249-5349","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Augustine","family":"Ocloo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]]},"reference":[{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0252923.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.4103\/0971-6866.60183","article-title":"Mitochondrial DNA mutations and male infertility","volume":"15","author":"DP Kumar","year":"2009","journal-title":"Indian journal of human genetics"},{"issue":"41","key":"pone.0252923.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15148","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0604641103","article-title":"Mitochondria-related male infertility","volume":"103","author":"K Nakada","year":"2006","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0252923.ref003","article-title":"Role of reactive oxygen species in the pathogenesis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in male infertility","volume":"129","author":"S Venkatesh","year":"2009","journal-title":"Indian Journal of Medical Research"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0252923.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"682","DOI":"10.1086\/303040","article-title":"Human mtDNA haplogroups associated with high or reduced spermatozoa motility","volume":"67","author":"E Ruiz-Pesini","year":"2000","journal-title":"The American Journal of Human Genetics"},{"issue":"13","key":"pone.0252923.ref005","first-page":"5994","article-title":"FSH treatment for normogonadotropic male infertility: a synergistic role for metformin?","volume":"23","author":"S La Vignera","year":"2019","journal-title":"Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0252923.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.1002\/j.1939-4640.2003.tb02687.x","article-title":"Sperm mitochondrial mutations as a cause of low sperm motility","volume":"24","author":"K Thangaraj","year":"2003","journal-title":"Journal of andrology"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0252923.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1863","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.humrep.a137950","article-title":"Andrology: Mitochondrial disease and reduced sperm motility","volume":"8","author":"T Folger\u00f8","year":"1993","journal-title":"Human reproduction"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0252923.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"261","DOI":"10.1038\/ng759","article-title":"Mutations at the mitochondrial DNA polymerase (POLG) locus associated with male infertility","volume":"29","author":"AT Rovio","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nature Genetics"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0252923.ref009","first-page":"719","article-title":"Can mitochondrial DNA mutations cause sperm dysfunction?","volume":"8","author":"J Spiropoulos","year":"2002","journal-title":"MHR: Basic science of reproductive medicine"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0252923.ref010","first-page":"447","article-title":"Identifying potential pitfalls in interpreting mitochondrial DNA mutations of male infertility cases","volume":"134","author":"MG Palanichamy","year":"2011","journal-title":"The Indian Journal of Medical Research"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0252923.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6715","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.77.11.6715","article-title":"Maternal inheritance of human mitochondrial DNA","volume":"77","author":"RE Giles","year":"1980","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National academy of Sciences"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0252923.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"392","DOI":"10.3390\/antiox8090392","article-title":"Mitochondrial Genome (mtDNA) Mutations that Generate Reactive Oxygen Species","volume":"8","author":"A Hahn","year":"2019","journal-title":"Antioxidants"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0252923.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1038\/aja.2009.14","article-title":"Clinical significance of the low normal sperm morphology value as proposed in the fifth edition of the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen","volume":"12","author":"R Menkveld","year":"2010","journal-title":"Asian journal of andrology"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0252923.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"864","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.humrep.a138607","article-title":"Differential RNA fingerprinting as a tool in the analysis of spermatozoal gene expression","volume":"9","author":"D Miller","year":"1994","journal-title":"Human Reproduction"},{"issue":"W1","key":"pone.0252923.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"W64","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkw247","article-title":"mtDNA-Server: Next-generation sequencing data analysis of human mitochondrial DNA in the cloud","volume":"44","author":"H. Weissensteiner","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Research"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0252923.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"825","DOI":"10.3109\/01443615.2015.1009876","article-title":"Level of male infertility in the Ghanaian city of Tema","volume":"35","author":"A Martin-Odoom","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0252923.ref017","first-page":"67","article-title":"Prevalence of low sperm count and abnormal semen parameters in male partners of women consulting at infertility clinic in Abakaliki, Nigeria","volume":"12","author":"EI Ugwuja","year":"2008","journal-title":"African journal of reproductive health"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0252923.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"418","DOI":"10.4314\/ahs.v17i2.16","article-title":"Evidence for decreasing sperm count in African population from 1965 to 2015","volume":"17","author":"P Sengupta","year":"2017","journal-title":"African Health Sciences"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0252923.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"132","DOI":"10.5958\/2394-2754.2015.00002.8","article-title":"Prevalence of male factor infertility in last ten years at a rural tertiary care centre of central India: a retrospective analysis","volume":"2","author":"N Kumar","year":"2015","journal-title":"Indian Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0252923.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"576","DOI":"10.1590\/S1677-55382012000500002","article-title":"Unexplained male infertility: diagnosis and management","volume":"38","author":"A Hamada","year":"2012","journal-title":"International braz j urol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0252923.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2605.1998.00093.x","article-title":"Semen levels of mitochondrial DNA deletions in men attending an infertility clinic do not correlate with phenotype","volume":"21","author":"JM Cummins","year":"1998","journal-title":"International journal of andrology"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0252923.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1016\/S0015-0282(97)81502-6","article-title":"Do men become infertile after having sexually transmitted urethritis? An epidemiologic examination","volume":"68","author":"RB Ness","year":"1997","journal-title":"Fertility and sterility"},{"key":"pone.0252923.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"719","DOI":"10.1093\/molehr\/8.8.719","article-title":"Can mitochondrial DNA mutations cause sperm dysfunction?","volume":"8","author":"J Spiropoulos","year":"2002","journal-title":"Mol. Hum. Reprod"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0252923.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1093\/molehr\/7.1.103","article-title":"Men with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia harbour higher numbers of multiple mitochondrial DNA deletions in their spermatozoa, but individual deletions are not indicative of overall aetiology","volume":"7","author":"JC St John","year":"2001","journal-title":"Molecular human reproduction"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0252923.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.3109\/19401736.2013.840612","article-title":"Polymorphisms in the MT-ATP6 and MT-CYB genes in in vitro fertilization failure","volume":"26","author":"GH Mao","year":"2015","journal-title":"Mitochondrial DNA"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0252923.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2605.2001.00292.x","article-title":"High incidence of single nucleotide substitutions in the mitochondrial genome is associated with poor semen parameters in men","volume":"24","author":"AJ Holyoake","year":"2001","journal-title":"International journal of andrology"}],"updated-by":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0256897","type":"correction","label":"Correction","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,25]],"date-time":"2021-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629849600000}}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0252923","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]],"date-time":"2021-06-15T17:30:32Z","timestamp":1623778232000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0252923"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Eugene Yujun","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0252923","relation":{"correction":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0256897","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,15]]}}}