Taste receptor polymorphisms and male infertility

This study has showed the associations between three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in taste receptors genes (TASR) and male infertility.WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADYRecent studies showed the expression of taste receptors in the testis and in spermatozoa, suggesting their possible role in infertility. The vast genetic variability in taste genes results in a large degree of diversity in various human phenotypes.STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATIONIn this study, we genotyped 19 SNPs in 12 taste related genes in a total of 494 Caucasian male patients undergoing semen evaluation at the Centre of Couple Sterility of the Siena University Hospital. Consecutive patients were enrolled during infertility investigations from October 2014 to February 2016.PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSMedian age of the patients was 36 years (18 –58) and 141 were smokers. Genotyping was performed using the allele-specific PCR. The statistical analysis was carried out using generalized linear model (GLM) to explore the association between age, smoking, the genetic polymorphisms and sperm parameters.MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCEWe observed that the homozygous carriers of the (G) allele of theTAS2R14-rs3741843 polymorphism showed a decreased sperm progressive motility compared to heterozygotes and (A) homozygotes (P = 0.003). Moreover, the homozygous carriers of the (T) allele of theTAS2R3-rs11763979 SNP showed fewer normal acrosome compared with the heterozygous and the homozygous carriers of the ...
Source: Human Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: research