Could androgen receptor gene CAG tract polymorphism affect spermatogenesis in men with idiopathic infertility?
J Assist Reprod Genet
; 31(6): 689-97, 2014 Jun.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24691874
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
This study examined whether the AR-CAG repeat length might affect clinical characteristics (testis volume) seminal parameters (sperm count and its mobility) along with hormonal serum profile [FSH, LH, Testosterone (T) and Inhibin B (InhB)] both in idiopathic male infertility (IM) and in infertility due to a previous condition of cryptorchidism (CryM) or to Y chromosome long arm microdeletions (YM).DESIGN:
Observational study without intervention(s). PATIENTS One hundred and ten IM patients [90 idiopathic olizoospermic males (IOM) and 20 idiopathic azoospermic males (IAM)], 19 CryM male and 10 YM patients were included. Sixty-one age-matched healthy men who had fathered within 3 years were involved representing the control group (FM).RESULTS:
AR-CAG repeats stretch was significantly longer in IOM (p<0.05), CryM (p<0.05) and YM (p<0.001) than FM. When the AR-CAG repeat tracts were subdivided in three subgroups according to the length of CAG repeats tract assessed in fertile subjects (the one with the middle (n 19-21) belonging to the 25 and 75 % inter-quartile, the ends belonging to the <25 % inter-quartile and >75 % inter-quartile, respectively), there was a statistically significant difference of distribution of AR-CAG tract length among fertile and different groups of infertile men (p=<0.0005; chi-square test). Moreover, the subgroup of AR-CAG repeat stretch with 22-28 triplets was associated with lower levels of InhB both in idiopathic oligozoospermic (Scheffe, Bonferroni and Dunett tests p=<0.01) and azoospermic men (Scheffe, Bonferroni and Dunett test p=<0.05), while, when FM and men with idiopathic infertility were gathered in a single group, both the subgroup of AR- CAG tract with 15-18 repeats and the one with 22-28 repeats are associated with lower testis volume, reduced sperm count and serum InhB levels.CONCLUSIONS:
Our study showed that the outliers of AR-CAG repeat length seem to influence the function of AR, affecting testis volume and Sertoli cell function and consequently sperm production in both fertile and idiopathic infertile men.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Oligospermia
/
Receptores Androgénicos
/
Repeticiones de Trinucleótidos
/
Trastornos de los Cromosomas Sexuales del Desarrollo Sexual
/
Infertilidad Masculina
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
Límite:
Adult
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Assist Reprod Genet
Asunto de la revista:
GENETICA
/
MEDICINA REPRODUTIVA
Año:
2014
Tipo del documento:
Article