Frequency of CYP1A1 Gene Polymorphisms in Infertile Men with Non-obstructive Azoospermia

Background and Aims: The cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) plays a curial role in phase I metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to their ultimate biologically active intermediates that have potential reproductive toxicity in men. Reproductive functions in men may be impaired by many environmental, physiologic, and genetic factors. The majority of the environmental factors are xenobiotics. Metabolic active xenobiotics exert adverse effects via covalent interactions between intermediate metabolites and cellular macromolecules such as DNA or protein. Materials and Methods: Genotyping two polymorphisms, CYP1A1*2A and CYP1A1*2C, was done using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay in a case–control study including 105 infertile men and104 healthy fertile subjects. Results: The results showed that frequency of CYP1A1*2A was significantly different between the patients and the controls (p = 0.036). Analysis indicated that CYP1A1*2A CC genotype was significantly associated with an increased risk of male infertility (OR = 5.4, CI=1.12-26.04; 95%) compared with the AA genotype. No significant association was detected between CYP1A1*2C polymorphism and male infertility. Conclusions: The CYP1A1*2A single nucleotide polymorphism can be considered as an effective agent in azoospermia.