Comparative Study Journal Article Ppublish 4 citations
PubMed: 38470159 DOI: 10.1111/iju.15445
Downregulation of miR-211 expression in the blood plasma of infertile men compared to the fertile controls.
Int J Urol 31(7):718-723
Authors: Nasim Naeimi, Homa MohseniKouchesfehani, Hamidreza Mahmoudzadeh-Sagheb, Saeed Movahed, Bita Moudi, Azam Asemirad, Nadia Sheibak, Zahra Heidari
Affiliations
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
- Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
- Department of Histology, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
- Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Research Institute of Cellular and Molecular Science in Infectious Diseases, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
- Department of Urology, School of Medicine Ali Ibne Abitaleb Hospital Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
- Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Infertility is inability to conceive after 12 months of regular unprotected sex. MiRNA expression changes can serve as potential biomarkers for infertility in males due to impaired spermatogenesis. This research was conducted to measure the expression level of miR-211 in plasma samples as a factor identifying infertility in comparison with the control group.
METHODS
In this study, blood plasma were taken from the infertile men (n = 103) nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) or severe oligozoospermia (SO) and the control group (n = 121). The expression of circulating miR-211 in plasma was assessed by qRT-PCR. A relative quantification strategy was adopted using the 2 method to calculate the target miR-211 expression level in both study groups.
RESULTS
Plasma miR-211 levels were significantly lower in infertile men compared to the control group (0.544 ± 0.028 and 1.203 ± 0.035, respectively, p < 0.001). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that miR-211 expression level has a positive and significant correlation with sperm parameters, including sperm concentration, sperm total motility, progressive motility, and normal morphology (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
Decreased expression of miR-211 in blood plasma seems to be associated with male infertility. This experiment showed that miR-211 can be considered as a biomarker for evaluation, diagnosis, and confirmation of the results of semen analysis in male infertility.
MeSH
Blood, Infertility, Urologic Diseases, Biomarkers, Infertility, Male, Down-Regulation, Spermatozoa, Plasma