MIR-34C TRANSCRIPT CONTENT IN EJACULATED SPERM OF MEN IN COUPLES WITH UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY

Background and Aim : Recently, the miRNA expression profiles in human sperm, seminal plasma, and testicular tissue have been reported to be associated with subfertility. It has been reported that miR-34c plays a role in fertilization and may be involved in early embryonic development.Present study was done to evaluate miR-34c transcript content in ejaculated sperm of normozoospermic fertile and infertile men.Methods : Present study was approved by the institutional review board of Biology Department, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Standard sperm parameters were analyzed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Real-time PCR was carried out to evaluate relative expression of miR-34c in ejaculated sperm.Results : Significant (p<0.05) difference was seen in sperm concentration between fertile and infertile men. The sperm content of miR-34c was significantly (p<0.05) lower in normozoospermic infertile men than fertile control. The sperm content of miR-34c showed significant correlation with sperm motility.Conclusion : Our findings show that sperm content of miR-34c could reflect the quality of spermatozoa in etiology of unexplained male infertility and suggesting that paternal miR-34c may be used as indicator in the prediction of male infertility.

کلیدواژه ها:

Unexplained male infertility ، Semen quality ، MicroRNA ، miR-34c