Clinical aspects of infertile 47,XYY patients: a retrospective study.

47,XYY syndrome is a sex chromosomal anomaly in men, which may be associated with infertility and has an incidence of 0.1% of male births. The clinical and paraclinical characteristics of men suffering from this anomaly have not been fully described. In this retrospective study, we present 37 cases of 47,XYY infertile men with sperm counts varying from normal to azoospermia, referred to the Genetics Laboratory at the Royan Institute, Iran. Thirteen individuals were mosaic and 24 non-mosaics. Non-mosaic patients were classified as azoospermic (nine cases) and normospermic/oligozoospermic men (15 cases). Two of the non-mosaic and three mosaic patients had secondary infertility. In addition, 13 of them underwent IUI, IVF or ICSI, and in seven cases, there was a biochemical pregnancy. The remaining 14 patients did not have ART. The 47,XYY syndrome is relatively unusual and can be missed clinically because of the lack of symptoms and of diverse phenotypes. Diagnosis of this aneuploidy can provide valuable data for counselling and early management of the patients who undergo fertility evaluation.

The Impact of Genetic Variation and Gene Expression Level of The Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Receptor on Ovarian Reserve.

OBJECTIVES: Ovarian reserve is defined as the capacity of the ovary to provide fertile oocytes. Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) is a disorder in which ovaries are prone to go through early menopause. Where this loss of function occurs before the age of 40, it results in the premature ovarian failure (POF) disease. Throughout folliculogenesis, the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) starts a signaling cascade in the granulosa cells where its inactivation leads to the arrest of follicle maturation and therefore adversely affects ovarian reserve. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of genetic variation (polymorphisms and inactivating mutations) of FSHR with POF and DOR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case-control study comprised 84 POF, 52 DOR and 80 fertile Iranian women. To determine the presence of the 566C>T mutation and the -29G>A polymorphism in FSHR, PCR-RFLP method was used. SSCP-sequencing was used to identify any allelic variants in exon 10. The expression of human FSHR at the transcript level was also compared between DOR and fertile controls by real time-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: The 566C>T polymorphism was normal in all the cases. All genotypes of -29G>A and 919G>A (exon 10) polymorphisms were observed. Statistically significant differences were seen in the genotypic distribution of both polymorphisms when comparing the control group with the DOR patient group. A decrease was observed in FSHR expression of DOR patients compared with the control group but was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the -29G>A and 919G>A polymorphisms in FSHR may be associated with DOR. Although these polymorphisms had significant differences at the genic level, no significant variation was found at the transcript level.

Delineating the association between isodicentric chromosome Y and infertility: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To report on 14 infertile patients who had a de novo form of the same isodicentric (idic)(Yq) karyotype with variable degrees of mosaicism. DESIGN: Retrospective study and review of the literature. SETTING: Medical genetics laboratory in a research institute for reproductive biomedicine. PATIENT(S): Fourteen infertile patients, including 13 male patients and 1 female patient who had infertility with the same idic(Y) karyotype. INTERVENTION(S): Conventional cytogenetic methods, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on seminal germ cells and blood, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular approaches. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Karyotype, FISH, and PCR results. RESULT(S): Cytogenetic results revealed abnormal Y chromosome: 45,X/46,X,idic(Y)(q11.22). The FISH technique on blood lymphocytes confirmed a rearranged Y chromosome, with two centromeres and two SRY signals, and marker chromosome with various levels of mosaicism. Moreover, aneuploidy of sex chromosomes was also detected in haploid seminal germ cells. Multiplex PCR analysis of blood samples demonstrated microdeletion in AZFb and AZFc loci. CONCLUSION(S): Because of the resemblance between inversion of chromosome Y and idics(Y), use of confirmatory techniques (e.g., FISH or PCR-based methods) could help prevent medical errors in healthcare systems and precisely delineate chromosomal aberrations in infertile patients when clinical data fail to clarify the cause of infertility.

Chromosome abnormalities and viability of vitrified eight-cell mouse embryos at presence of two different cryoprotectants at different storage durations.

OBJECTIVE: Experiments were conducted to find the differences between post-thaw viability and chromosome aberrations in eight-cell mouse embryos at presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 1, 2-propanediol (PROH) as croprotectants in different storage durations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, a total number of 720 mouse embryos from about 250 NMRI mice were vitrified with 30% PROH or DMSO; each diluted with a solution containing 30% ficol plus 0.5 M sucrose. Embryos were exposed to the solutions for 0.5 minute at 25℃ followed by cooling in liquid nitrogen, then after appropriate storage duration, they were rapidly warmed. Besides, there were 100 mouse embryos for each cryoprotectant group (totally 200 embryos) as control. Embryo survival was assessed by in vitro development, and chromosome abnormalities were analyzed by Giemsa staining. RESULTS: The proportion of mitotic abnormalities in PROH/DMSO vitrified embryos was significantly higher than unfrozen control group. This was confirmed also by a reduced viability of the embryos as judged by a culture at the blastocyst stage (p<0.05 in all test groups). CONCLUSION: It can be deduced that long term cryopreservation may result in chromosomal abnormalities and/or low viability.