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Analysis of sperm telomere length in men with idiopathic infertility

  • Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Telomeres are multifunctional nucleoprotein domains with hexanucleotide tandem repeat (5′ TTAGGG 3′) sequences, which cap the chromosome ends. However, the role of telomere and its length in sperm with regard to fertility remains unknown.

Methods

In this pilot study, we analyzed 32 idiopathic infertile men and 25 controls for sperm telomere length by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR), and correlated it with sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.

Results

The relative sperm mean telomere length (T/S) of infertile men was found to be significantly lower (p < 0.005) when compared to controls (0.674 ± 0.028 vs. 0.699 ± 0.030). None of the sperm parameters such as sperm count, forward motility, morphology, ROS, and DFI were found to correlate with the sperm telomere length.

Conclusion

Shorter telomeres in sperm may be one of the causative factors responsible for male infertility, but further detailed studies are needed to confirm these findings.

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Abbreviations

DFI:

DNA fragmentation index

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SCSA:

Sperm chromatin structure assay

Q-PCR:

Quantitative PCR

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Grants from the Department of Biotechnology, India (BT/PR4704/MED/12/539/2012) to Rima Dada.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Molecular Reproduction and Genetics, Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 110029, India

    J. Thilagavathi, M. Kumar, S. S. Mishra, S. Venkatesh & R. Dada

  2. Department of Urology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 110029, India

    R. Kumar

Authors
  1. J. Thilagavathi
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  2. M. Kumar
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  3. S. S. Mishra
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  4. S. Venkatesh
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  5. R. Kumar
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  6. R. Dada
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Dada.

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Thilagavathi, J., Kumar, M., Mishra, S.S. et al. Analysis of sperm telomere length in men with idiopathic infertility. Arch Gynecol Obstet 287, 803–807 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-012-2632-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-012-2632-8

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