Aromatase (CYP19) gene variants influence ovarian response to standard gonadotrophin stimulation.

Purpose: The association of cytochrome P450 aromatase gene CYP19(TTTA) ( n ) polymorphism with ovarian response to FSH stimulation was explored.

Methods: Three hundred women undergoing medically assisted reproduction and 300 women with at least one spontaneous pregnancy participated in the study. CYP19(TTTA) ( n ) polymorphism was genotyped, while serum hormones were determined.

Assessment of sperm chromatin condensation and ploidy status using flow cytometry correlates to fertilization, embryo quality and pregnancy following in vitro fertilization.

Purpose: Sperm flow cytometry (SFC) was used to evaluate the association of sperm chromatin condensation and ploidy with fertilization, embryo development, pregnancy and abortion rates following IVF.

Methods: Conventional semen analysis was performed in one hundred fifty men, as well as SFC analysis, after acridine orange and propidium iodide staining, for the evaluation of sperm maturity and ploidy respectively. Conventional IVF was performed in all couples.

Association of TNFα, TNFR1, and TNFR2 polymorphisms with sperm concentration and motility.

Tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) is a multifunctional cytokine that regulates various cellular processes related to spermatogenesis. Two types of cell receptors, TNFR1 and TNFR2, mediate TNFα activity. In the present study, we sought to explore the association of TNFα -857C→T, TNFR1 36A→G, and TNFR2 676T→G polymorphisms with sperm concentration and motility.

Association of paraoxonase gene polymorphisms with sperm parameters.

Paraoxonase (PON) is a high-density lipoprotein-associated enzyme that prevents low-density lipoprotein oxidation. PON proteins, localized in the seminiferous tubules and in spermatozoa, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of male infertility. In the present study, we sought to explore the contribution of the PON gene variants to sperm parameters.

Estrogen receptor alpha and beta polymorphisms are associated with semen quality.

The role of estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) and estrogen receptor beta (ER beta) gene polymorphisms on semen quality is the aim of our study. One hundred fourteen men were examined in the In Vitro Fertilization Unit of Ioannina Medical School, and it was found that 85 men had normal sperm count and 29 were oligozoospermic. The genotype analysis, on DNA extracted from spermatozoa, revealed that in men with oligozoospermia (sperm concentration <20 x 10(6) spermatozoa/mL), those with ER alpha 397T/C and 397C/C genotypes had higher sperm motility whereas those with 397T/T genotype had lower sperm motility (P = .