Author/Authors :
Heidary, Hamed Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Pouresmaeili, Farkhondeh Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Mirfakhraie, Reza Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Omrani, Davood Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Ghaedi, Hamid Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Fazeli, Zahra Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Sayban, Shadi Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Ghafouri-Fard, Soudeh Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Azargashb, Eznollah Department of Community Medicine - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Shokri, Fazlollah Department of Medical Genetics - Faculty of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract :
Telomeres are evolutionary, specialized terminal structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes
containing TTAGGG repeats in human. Several human diseases have been known to be associated with dramatic
changes in telomere length. The aim of the present study was to assess the correlation between the relative
leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and infertility in a group of Iranian azoospermic males. Methods: In this casecontrol
pilot study, relative telomere length (RTL) of peripheral blood leukocytes from a total of 30 idiopathic nonobstructive
azoospermic males and 30 healthy fertile males was evaluated using real-time PCR. RTL was
calculated as T (telomere)/S (single copy gene) ratio and compared between infertile and fertile groups. Results:
Patients with azoospermia showed significantly shorter RTL than fertile males (0.54 vs. 0.84, p < 0.05). The area
under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was estimated to be 99.8%, suggesting LTL as a potential
marker for the diagnosis of azoospermia. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated a probable association between
telomere shortening and azoospermia in a population of Iranian infertile men affected by idiopathic azoospermia.
Keywords :
Telomere , Spermatogenesis , Male infertility , Azoospermia
