ABSTRACT
Background: Signaling molecules such as cytokines regulate spermatogenesis during the maturation of germ cells and sperm apoptosis. Tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF alpha] is one of the most-documented cytokines that is involved in spermatogenesis. We investigated the association of the TNF alpha -308 G/A single nucleotide polymorphism with sperm abnormalities in Iranian males
Materials and Methods: This case-control study included 180 infertile men who referred to Yazd Research and Clinical Center for Infertility and 100 healthy normospermic controls. Infertile men were classified into four groups of azoospermia [n=91], oligospermia [n=26], teratospermia [n=30] and asthenoteratospermia [n=33]. After sperm analysis, DNA was extracted from blood and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism [PCR-RFLP] was carried out for the genotyping of TNF alpha-308 G/A
Results: The A allele was significantly associated with sperm abnormality in our population [[P<0.001, odds ratios [OR] 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.31]. In addition, the A allele was also associated with azoospermia [P<0.001, OR [95% CI]=2.484], oligospermia [P=0.005, OR [95% CI]=2.51] and teratospemia [P<0.001, OR [95% CI]=3.385] but not with asthenoteratospermia [P=0.623]
Conclusion: Our data suggest that this single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] maybe associated with the risk of sperm abnormality in infertile men of Iranian origin