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Journal Article Epublish 6 citations

PubMed: 35453608 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10040858

COVID-19 Infection Induce miR-371a-3p Upregulation Resulting in Influence on Male Fertility.

Biomedicines 10(4)

Authors: Heike Goebel, Barbara Koeditz, Manuel Huerta, Ersen Kameri, Tim Nestler, Thomas Kamphausen, Johannes Friemann, Matthias Hamdorf, Timo Ohrmann, Philipp Koehler, Oliver A Cornely, Manuel Montesinos-Rongen, David Nicol, Hubert Schorle, Peter Boor, Alexander Quaas, Christian Pallasch, Axel Heidenreich, Melanie von Brandenstein

Affiliations

  • Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
  • Clinic and Polyclinic for Urology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
  • Institute of Legal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Melatengürtel 60/62, 50823 Cologne, Germany.
  • Klinikum Lüdenscheid, Institute for Pathology, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Paulmannshöher Straße 14, 58515 Lüdenscheid, Germany.
  • Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
  • Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), 1018 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
  • Excellence Center for Medical Mycology (ECMM), Department I of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
  • Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), Chair Translational Research, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
  • Clinical Trials Centre Cologne (ZKS Köln), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50935 Cologne, Germany.
  • German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
  • Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
  • The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London SW3 6JJ, UK.
  • Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Bonn Clinics, University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
  • Department of Pathology, RWTH Aachen University, 52062 Aachen, Germany.
  • Department of Urology, Medical University Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

In December 2019, the first case of COVID-19 was reported and since then several groups have already published that the virus can be present in the testis. To study the influence of SARS-CoV-2 which cause a dysregulation of the androgen receptor (AR) level, thereby leading to fertility problems and inducing germ cell testicular changes in patients after the infection. Formalin-Fixed-Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) testicular samples from patients who died with or as a result of COVID-19 ( = 32) with controls ( = 6), inflammatory changes ( = 9), seminoma with/without metastasis ( = 11) compared with healthy biopsy samples ( = 3) were analyzed and compared via qRT-PCR for the expression of miR-371a-3p. An immunohistochemical analysis (IHC) and ELISA were performed in order to highlight the miR-371a-3p targeting the AR. Serum samples of patients with mild or severe COVID-19 symptoms ( = 34) were analyzed for miR-371a-3p expression. In 70% of the analyzed postmortem testicular tissue samples, a significant upregulation of the miR-371a-3p was detected, and 75% of the samples showed a reduced spermatogenesis. In serum samples, the upregulation of the miR-371a-3p was also detectable. The upregulation of the miR-371a-3p is responsible for the downregulation of the AR in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients, resulting in decreased spermatogenesis. Since the dysregulation of the AR is associated with infertility, further studies have to confirm if the identified dysregulation is regressive after a declining infection.

MeSH

Up-Regulation, Fertility, Receptors, Androgen, Covid-19, Infertility, Male, Spermatogenesis, Infections

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