Abstract:

Background/aim: Infertility is a main health issue. e human Y chromosome contains essential genes for spermatogenesis, especially those located on four major intervals de ned as AZFa, AZFb, AZFc, and AZFd. A partial deletion of the AZFc region is reported as a signi cant risk factor for oligo-/azoospermia. e main purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of partial deletions in the AZFc region (gr/gr, b1/b3, and b2/b3) in Iranian oligozoospermic candidates for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Materials and methods: Multiplex PCR was used to assess the micro and partial deletions in 60 oligozoospermia infertile and 80 fertile men. Results: Two cases (3.33%) showed AZFb deletion but no microdeletion was detected in the control samples. In the AZFc region, 20% of the patients showed deletions, in which 15% and 5% showed gr/gr and b2/b3 deletions, respectively. However, 10% of the healthy individuals also showed partial deletions, including gr/gr (7.5%) and b2/b3 (2.5%). No signi cant correlation was detected between the presence of gr/gr microdeletion in patients and controls (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Our study showed that the partial AZFc deletions are not associated with male infertility in Iranian subjects.

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