Association of FAS-670A/G and FASL-844C/T polymorphisms with idiopathic azoospermia in Western Iran

Objective: The FAS/FASL interaction plays a central role in up-regulation of apoptosis in testis. Studies indicated that the FAS-670A/G and FASL-844C/T polymorphisms are associated with the risk of idiopathic azoospermia in different ethnic groups. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the association between FAS-670A/G and FASL-844C/T polymorphisms with male idiopathic infertility in Western Iran. Study design: The analysis of FAS-670A/G and FASL-844C/T polymorphisms were carried out using the PCR-RFLP approach, on 102 infertile men and 110 normal fertile men as control group. Results: The results suggested that there were no significant difference in genotypic frequencies of FAS-670A/G polymorphism between infertile and control groups. On the other hand, significant result was observed for the frequency of FASL-844C/T polymorphism in infertile men in comparison to control group (P=0.02). Indeed, men with FASL-8447T and CT genotypes had an increased risk of idiopathic azoospermia in comparison to those with CC genotype (OR=2.02, 95% CI [1.05-3.88, P = 0.03] and OR = 1.44, 95% CI [0.46-4.49, P = 0.53]), respectively. Conclusion: Our findings speculate that the FASL-844C/T polymorphism is associated with the risk of male infertility and this variation can be considered as a genetic risk factor for idiopathic azoospermia among Western Iranian men population. Summing up, these data indicated that the genetic variations in FASIFASL system have a critical role in spermatogenesis defects and subsequent male infertility. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.