BACKGROUND About 15% of couples have infertility problems which 40% of them are related to the male factors. Genetic factors are candidate for about 10% of male infertility conditions. Among these, AZFa, AZFb, AZFc and AZFd regions on the Yq are considered most important for spermatogenesis. Microdeletions of these regions are thought to be involved in some cases of azoospermic or oligospermic ...

Background: Sperm chromatin insufficiencies leading to low sperm count and quality, infertility and transmission of chromosomal microdeletion and aneuploidies to next generations can be due to exposure to environmental pollutions, chemicals and natural or manmade ionizing radiation. In this project which has continued for more than 10 years and is unique in many technical aspects in Iran and in...

The Y chromosome provides a unique opportunity to study mutational processes within the human genome, decoupled from the confounding effects of interchromosomal recombination. It has been suggested that the increased density of certain dispersed repeats on the Y could account for the high frequency of causative microdeletions relative to single nucleotide mutations in infertile males. Previousl...

Mequindox (MEQ) is a relatively new synthetic antibacterial agent widely applied in China since the 1980s. However, its reproductive toxicity has not been adequately performed. In the present study, four groups of male Kunming mice (10 mice/group) were fed diets containing MEQ (0, 25, 55 and 110 mg/kg in the diet) for up to 18 months. The results show that M4 could pass through the blood-testis...

Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been widely used to detect Y-chromosome microdeletions, which is one of the major causes of male infertility. Both the European Academy of Andrology (EAA) and the European Molecular Genetics Quality Network (EMQN) have recommended the use of sY84 and sY86 markers for the detection of azoospermia factor a (AZFa) microdeletion during DNA testing for m...

Chromosome 15q24 microdeletion syndrome is a recently described rare microdeletion syndrome that has been reported in 19 individuals. It is characterized by growth retardation, intellectual disability, and distinct facial features including long face with high anterior hairline, hypertelorism, epicanthal folds, downslanting palpebral fissures, sparse and broad medial eyebrows, broad and/or depr...

During the last few years, microdeletions of the long arm of the Y chromosome, involving loci AZFa, AZFb, and AZFc, have been identified as a major cause of infertility, leading to the disruption of genes involved in spermatogenesis. These microdeletions are usually de novo mutations, but in six cases transmission from fertile fathers to infertile sons has been reported. In four cases, the tran...

Chromosome abnormalities, Y-chromosome microdeletions, and androgen receptor gene CAG and GGN repeat polymorphisms in infertile Chinese men featuring severe oligospermia and azoospermia were analyzed. Ninety-six fertile men and 189 non-obstructive infertile men, including 125 patients with azoospermia and 64 with severe oligozoospermia, were studied. Seventeen infertile men (9.0%) carried a chr...