Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

• Masoud Salehipour
• Masoumeh Karimi

Department of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Parand Branch, Islamic Azad University, P.O. Box 37613‒96361, Parand, Iran

Abstract

Genetic disorders play an important role in male infertility, especially in Non-Obstructive Azoospermia (NOA). Many studies have been performed on the expression profiles of gonadal genes in order to accurately identify the genes involved in impaired spermatogenesis. In the current study, testicular biopsy, hormonal assay, and Real-Time PCR were done to check hormonal and gene expression levels of the CAPN11 and UBQLN3 genes in the testicular biopsy samples of 30 NOA and 30 Obstructive Azoospermia (OA) patients. The Real-time PCR showed that the expression of these genes decreased in azoospermia patients. The hormonal evaluation showed that FSH and LH significantly increased in NOA men and there was no difference in testosterone level between the two groups. Due to the obtained results of this study, CAPN11 and UBQLN3 can introduce as two biomarkers of NOA.

Keywords

• CAPN11
• gene expression
• infertility
• UBQLN3
• unnatural azoospermia