Premium
The correlation between mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) gene expression and sperm DNA damage among infertile patients with and without varicocele
Author(s) -
Mahran Ali M.,
Mosad Eman,
AbdelRaheem Mohamed A.,
Ahmed Eman H.,
Abdel Motaleb Amira Ali,
Hofny Eman R.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
andrologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1439-0272
pISSN - 0303-4569
DOI - 10.1111/and.13341
Subject(s) - varicocele , sperm , andrology , semen , sperm motility , male infertility , correlation , biology , dna fragmentation , infertility , semen analysis , medicine , gene expression , gynecology , gene , genetics , apoptosis , pregnancy , geometry , mathematics , programmed cell death
This study aimed to assess the possible correlation between mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) gene expression and sperm DNA damage among infertile patients with and without varicocele. The study included sixty infertile males and fifty fertile males as controls. The infertile group was subdivided into the following subgroups: thirty males with varicocele and thirty males without varicocele. All subjects underwent medical history collection, clinical examination, semen analysis, sperm DNA integrity assessment, mTOR gene expression assessment and scrotal colour Doppler ultrasound. The mean mTOR gene expression in infertile patients with varicocele (23.52 ± 14.65) was significantly higher than that in infertile patients without varicocele (12.24 ± 12.44) and fertile control subjects (3.92 ± 3.26; p = 0.003 and p < 0.001 respectively). In the infertile varicocele‐positive group, mTOR gene expression showed a significant negative correlation with sperm count ( p = 0.028, r = −0.400) and progressive sperm motility ( p = 0.038, r = −0.381), as well as a significant positive correlation with the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI; p = 0.001, r = 0.578). In the infertile varicocele‐negative group, mTOR gene expression showed a significant negative correlation with progressive sperm motility ( p = 0.018, r = −0.429) and a significant positive correlation with sperm DFI ( p < 0.001, r = 0.673). In conclusion, according to these results, there is a significant positive correlation between mTOR gene expression and sperm DFI among infertile patients with and without varicocele.