Large scale deletions of the mitochondrial DNA in astheno, asthenoterato and oligoasthenoterato-spermic men

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of large-scale deletions of mtDNA between idiopathic astheno, asthenoterato and oligoasthenoterato-spermic as patient group and normospermic as control group. Forty semen samples including: 10 asthenospermic (A), 10 asthenoteratospermic (AT), 10 oligoasthenoteratospermic (OAT) and 10 normospermic samples as control group, were collected from IVF center. Our analysis of long-range polymerase chain reaction were shown multiple deletions; 4977-bp, 7599-bp and 7491-bp of mtDNA in spermatozoa of patients (A, AT and OAT) and control groups. However, the frequency of multiple mtDNA deletions in astheno (60%), asthenoterato (60%), oligoasthenoterato (70%) spermic groups were significantly higher than normal (40%) group. These results suggest that mtDNA mutations cause infertility through an effect on sperm motility. Therefore, identification of mtDNA mutations and large scale deletions in the pathophysiology of human spermatozoa dysfunction is considered to be important to better understanding of the etiology of idiopathic infertility.