Association of UCP2 45bp ins/del Gene Polymorphism with Idiopathic Male Infertility

  Infertility is a reproductive issue that has influenced couples worldwide and caused them psychiatric and emotional troubles. It is believed that mitochondrial proteins play a major role in male infertility. One of the most important of these proteins is UCP2, which consists of more than 10% of mitochondria’s inner membrane proteins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of UCP2 45bp ins/del polymorphism with idiopathic male infertility.

In this case-control study, UCP2 polymorphism was investigated in 196 individuals with idiopathic infertility and 278 healthy individuals. UCP2 45bp ins/del genotypes were identified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Also, genotype and allele frequencies in cases and controls were assessed by logistic regression analysis. No association was observed between UCP2 45bp ins/del polymorphism genotypes and risk of idiopathic male infertility, but there was a marginal difference between cases and controls regarding II genotype frequency (P=0.08). Moreover, data analysis showed that I allele had protective effect against idiopathic male infertility (OR: 0.729, 95%CI: 0.54-0.985, P=0.039).

Discussion & In this study, for the first time, we found that the I allele in UCP2 45bp ins/del polymorphism has protective effects against idiopathic male infertility. Further studies with larger sample sizes and different ethnicities are needed to confirm these results.