Open AccessThe association of male infertility with telomere length: A case control study
Author(s) -
Kate Deepali Rajesh,
P. Vatsalaswamy,
Manvikar Purshotam Rao
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
indian journal of clinical anatomy and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2394-2126
pISSN - 2394-2118
DOI - 10.18231/j.ijcap.2021.070
Subject(s) - sperm , infertility , male infertility , telomere , andrology , sperm motility , biomarker , clinical significance , biology , medicine , gynecology , genetics , pregnancy , gene
To study the relevance of sperm telomere length and infertility in men. : Our case-control study included twenty-five males in couple, who were subfertile/infertil (test group) and twenty-five healthy males (control group) with proven paternity in the age group 21-35 years. The Absolute Sperm Telomere length (aSTL) was measured by real-time PCR. We investigated whether any significant difference in the aSTL value existed between the groups and analysed the relationship between aSTL and other sperm parameters. The mean (SE) aSTL recorded in the infertile cases was significantly shorter than for the control group; 140.60 (6.66) Kb/genome and 239.63 (12.32) Kb/genome respectively (p <0.001) A moderate positive correlation was eminent between aSTL kb/genome and the total sperm count mil/ml (rho= 0.54, p<0.001), progressive sperm motility (rho= 0.56, p=<0.001) and sperm viability (rho= 0.51 p=0.032) in the infertile group. The measurement of aSTL by real-time PCR is a simple and rapid method that offers further paramount information with respective to the quality of sperm. It is befitted for epidemiological studies, hence opening new perspectives in the evaluation of male infertility. Our study was confined to men aged between 21-35 years. Further comparative studies are needed to explore the significance of STL and infertility in older males. Additional studies will help illumine the significance of aSTL as a prognostic biomarker in assisted reproduction.