ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: High-throughput studies provide a wide spectrum of genes for use as predictive markers during testicular sperm extraction (TESE) in combination with ICSI. In this work, we used the specimens from testicular biopsies of men with non-obstructive azoospermia who underwent TESE to investigate the expression of spermatogenesis-related genes MND1, SPATA22, GAPDHS and ACR. METHODS: Testicular biopsy specimens were subdivided into three groups: hypospermatogenesis (HS); maturation arrest (MA); and Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCO). The levels of expression of the spermatogenesis-related genes MND1, SPATA22, GAPDHS and ACR in the testes were compared among these three groups using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. RESULTS: Analysis of the expression of spermatogenic genes in human testes with abnormal spermatogenesis showed different expression patterns in patients from different groups. Fertilization rate for studied set of patients was 66% and pregnancy rate 29%. For HS group fertilization rate was 72% and pregnancy rate 32%, while for MA group fertilization and pregnancy rates were 54% and 26%, respectively. Fertilization rates in relation to the studied genes were uniformly around 70%, pregnancy rates for ACR and GAPDHS genes were surprisingly low at 6% and 8% correspondingly. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the expression of genes involved in spermatogenesis can be a fast additional test for the level of spermatogenesis in testicular samples.
Subject(s)
Acrosin/genetics , Azoospermia/genetics , Cell Cycle Proteins/genetics , Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases/genetics , Testis/metabolism , Adult , Azoospermia/pathology , Biopsy , Female , Fertilization , Gene Expression Profiling , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Oligospermia/genetics , Oligospermia/pathology , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Rate , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome/genetics , Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome/pathology , Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic , Sperm Retrieval , Spermatogenesis/genetics , Testicular Diseases/genetics , Testicular Diseases/pathology , Testis/pathologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether varied human spermatozoa, as detected with monoclonal antibodies against acrosomal proteins, have an influence on fertilization, transfer, pregnancy, and implantation rates when intracytoplasmic sperm injection is used. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: A private IVF center and academic research laboratory. PATIENT(S): One thousand two hundred forty men participating in the intracytoplasmic sperm injection program. INTERVENTION(S): Sperm were divided into seven groups: oligozoospermia, oligoasthenozoospermia, and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia and fresh and frozen-thawed epididymal and fresh and frozen-thawed testicular sperm. Fertilization, transfer, pregnancy, and implantation rates were recorded in each category. Sperm were tested with antibodies for detection of the of the sperm acrosome. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Fertilization, transfer, pregnancy and implantation rates, and percentage of acrosome-reacted cells. RESULT(S): The fertilization rate and statistical evaluation showed differences between morphologically normal and pathological sperm and other groups. The freezing-thawing procedure had no influence on the fertilization of testicular sperm, but epididymal frozen-thawed sperm had a higher fertilization rate. Immunofluorescence proved decreasing sperm quality in all groups compared with the control group. This difference is not manifested in other parameters (transfer, pregnancy, implantation rates). CONCLUSION(S): The spermatozoa with varied semen characteristics and good quality, also detected with specific antibodies, gave the best fertilization rates. The paternal effect is not proved in other parameters.
