KIR and HLA-C genes in male infertility.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Approximately 50% of men reporting to clinics for assisted reproduction have abnormal sperm parameters; we therefore considered whether they differ from fertile males in terms of the frequency of KIR and HLA-C genes, suggesting the involvement of NK cells and some T cells in the inflammatory reaction that can occur in the testes, vas deferens, or epididymis. METHOD: We tested a total of 1064 men 445 of them were patients who, together with their female partners, participated in in vitro fertilization (IVF), 298 men whose female partners suffered from recurrent spontaneous abortion. Three hundred twenty-one fertile men constituted the control group. KIRs were genotyped using KIR Ready Gene kits and HLA-C by PCR-SSP methods. RESULTS: We found differences in KIR gene frequencies between men who became fathers via natural conception and men who participated in in vitro fertilization for KIR2DL2 (p/pcorr. = 0.0015/0.035, OR = 1.61), KIR2DL5 gr.2 (p/pcorr. = 0.0023/0.05, OR = 1.64), KIR2DS2 (p/pcorr. = 0.0019/0.044, OR = 1.59), and KIR2DS3 (p/pcorr. = 0.0016/0.037, OR = 1.67). KIRs in Cen AA region were significantly overrepresented in fertile males than in IVF males (p/pcorr. = 0.0076/0.03, OR = 0.67), whereas Cen AB + Cen BB frequency was higher in IVF males than in fertile males (p/pcorr. = 0.0076/0.03, OR = 1.50). We also observed a limited association in KIR-HLA-C combinations. CONCLUSION: Fertile men differ in profile of KIR genes and KIR-HLA-C combinations from men participating in IVF.