Association between Mir-34 b/c rs4938723 Gene Polymorphism and the Risk of Male Infertility

Infertility is a complex disorder with multiple genetic and environmental causes. Male factor infertility affects 15% of all couples. MicroRNA plays an important role in spermatogenesis. Whether pre-miRNAs polymorphisms are associated with idiopathic male infertility is unknown. In this study, the association between mir-34 b/c rs4938723 gene polymorphism and the risk of idiopathic male infertility was investigated.
Blood Samples were collected from 244 patients diagnosed with idiopathic male infertility and 105 control subjects. DNA extraction was performed by salting out method and genotype determination was done by Tetra-ARMS PCR technique. However, the comparison between genotype and allele frequencies in cases and controls, were assessed by logistic regression analysis.
Findings: Both of the cases )χ2= 1.8, df=2, P=0.17( and control )χ2= 1.6, df=2, P=0.2( groups were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for genotype distribution. In a recessive genetic model for CC genotype, mir-34 b/c rs4938723 showed significant association with idiopathic male infertility (OR= 0.44, 95% CI= 0.2-0.9, P= 0.03).
Discussion & In this study, for the first time, the association between mir-34 b/c rs4938723 and idiopathic male infertility was investigated. The results showed that mir-34 b/c rs4938723 polymorphism is associated with idiopathic male infertility; more studies should be considered with larger number of patient and control subjects to confirm these results.