background:   objective: to investigate if the measurement of inhibin-b can help surgeon to reduce unnecessary diagnostic testicular biopsies in males with azoospermia.   materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was done during july 2006 to september 2007 on 41 patients with azoospermia. fsh and inhibin-b were measured and bilateral open testicular biopsy was performed for all patients...

BACKGROUND The causative mechanisms of male infertility are still poorly understood. Mutations in the Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene have been shown to be involved in male infertility; however, other mechanisms of pathogenesis, like promoter hyper-methylation, could also play a role. Therefore, in this study we compared the methylation status of the promoter region of MTHFR in...

There are two main reasons why sperm may be absent from semen. Obstructive azoospermia is the result of a blockage in the male reproductive tract; in this case, sperm are produced in the testicle but are trapped in the epididymis. Non-obstructive azoospermia is the result of severely impaired or non-existent sperm production. There are three different sperm-harvesting procedures that obstructiv...

Over the past 20 years, there has been a clear trend to increase in number of infertile men Ukraine, their percentage reaches 50% couples. There is significant male infertility caused by azoospermia – lack sperm ejaculate. In infertility, found 10–15% patients, among other forms pathospermia. Given ambiguity ideas about etiology, pathogenesis and treatment diagnostic approaches for various type...

Maturation arrest (MA) refers to failure of germ cell development leading to clinical nonobstructive azoospermia. Although the azoospermic factor (AZF) region of the human Y chromosome is clearly implicated in some cases, thus far very little is known about which individual Y-chromosome genes are important for complete male germ cell development. We sought to identify single genes on the Y chro...

In human testes, stem cells such as spermatogonia need to produce progeny cells continually. Telomere length is maintained throughout spermatogenesis, i.e. from spermatogonia to spermatozoon, and telomerase is reported to be present in the testes. In this study, we measured the activity of telomerase in the human testes of 16 cases of idiopathic azoospermia, 10 of obstructive azoospermia, and 1...

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after 1 year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. About 15% of couples are affected. Male factors account for about 50% of couples with infertility.1 Approximately 10 to 15% of infertile men suffer from azoospermia—complete absence of sperms in the ejaculate. Among these azoospermic patients, approximately 40% have complete obstruction i...