ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a liquid chip technology to detect Y chromosome microdeletions in Chinese infertile males with azoospermia or oligozoospermia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Multiplex PCR and liquid chip technology were used to detect the Y chromosome microdeletions in AZF region in 178 infertile patients with azoospermia and 134 infertile patients with oligozoospermia as well as 40 fertile control men.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Forty out of 312 patients (12.8%) were found to have deletions in AZF region. The microdeletion frequency was 14%(25/178) in the azoospermic group, 9.6%(11/114) in the oligospermic and 20%(4/20) in the severe oligospermic group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The authors developed a high-throughput, fast and simple assay to screen the AZF region microdeletions of Y chromosome.</p>