ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the polymerase gamma(Polg) gene polymorphisms in Chinese idiopathic infertile males and evaluate the correlation of the polymorphisms with male infertility.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We conducted a study of Polg CAG repeats in the sperm or blood DNA of 55 asthenospermia patients, 57 oligospermia patients, 34 azoospermia patients, and 104 controls with PCR and GeneScan. Phenotypic data were available in all the subjects, including semen parameters, and clinical profiles.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The frequency of 10/not 10 CAG genotype in asthenospermia patients was higher than in the other groups, but with no significance.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Our findings have shown for the first time that there exits an ethnic difference between Chinese and European males in the number of CAG repeats of Polg gene, and that 10/not 10 CAG genotype may affect sperm motility.</p>