Altered Profile of Seminal Plasma MicroRNAs in the Molecular Diagnosis of Male Infertility

• DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2011.169714
• Publication Date: 2011-09-21T02:38:29Z
• Authors: Cheng Wang; Cuihua Yang; Xi Chen; Bing Yao; Chen Yang; Chen Zhu; Limin Li; Junjun Wang; Xiaojun Li; Yong Shao; Yang Liu; Jiang Ji; Junfeng Zhang; Ke Zen; Chen-Yu Zhang; Chunni Zhang
• Keywords: Asthenozoospermia; Oligospermia; Semen Analysis

BACKGROUND Although microRNAs (miRNAs) play essential roles in spermatogenesis, little is known about seminal plasma miRNAs infertile men. We investigated the profile of men to identify that are altered infertility; we then evaluated their diagnostic value. METHODS Seminal samples were obtained from 289 and 168 age-matched fertile control individuals. The stability was first assessed by time-course freeze–thaw cycle analyses. Solexa sequencing technology used for an initial screen pooled 45 patients with nonobstructive azoospermia, 58 asthenozoospermia, 100 controls. A stem–loop quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) assay conducted training verification sets confirm concentrations 73 79 34 oligospermia, 68 RESULTS stable. analysis demonstrated 19 markedly patient groups, compared group. RT-qPCR identified 7 (miR-34c-5p, miR-122, miR-146b-5p, miR-181a, miR-374b, miR-509–5p, miR-513a-5p) as decreased azoospermia but increased asthenozoospermia. area under ROC curve these ranged 0.733 0.921, higher than routine biochemical parameters (0.510–0.622). Moreover, some selected also semen sperm asthenozoospermia patients. CONCLUSIONS measurement provides a novel, noninvasive approach diagnosing male infertility.