Blood plasma miR‐20a‐5p expression as a potential non‐invasive diagnostic biomarker of male infertility: A pilot study

Background Recently, alterations in miRNAs expression profile in semen have been linked to damaged spermatogenesis, suggesting miRNAs could be used as potential infertility biomarkers. In previous animal studies, miR‐20a‐5p was found to be down‐expressed in low motile spermatozoa, implying its poten...

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Published in:Andrology (Oxford) 2020-09, Vol.8 (5), p.1256-1264
Main Authors: Cito, Gianmartin, Coccia, Maria Elisabetta, Salvianti, Francesca, Fucci, Rossella, Picone, Rita, Giachini, Claudia, Cocci, Andrea, Falcone, Patrizia, Micelli, Elisabetta, Verrienti, Pierangelo, Minervini, Andrea, Carini, Marco, Pinzani, Pamela, Natali, Alessandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
azoospermia
Biomarkers
Infertility
male infertility
microRNA
Plasma
Sperm
spermatogenesis
testicular sperm extraction
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Summary:Background Recently, alterations in miRNAs expression profile in semen have been linked to damaged spermatogenesis, suggesting miRNAs could be used as potential infertility biomarkers. In previous animal studies, miR‐20a‐5p was found to be down‐expressed in low motile spermatozoa, implying its potential target of genes associated with cell apoptosis. Objective To investigate miR‐20a‐5p expression in blood plasma of patients suffering from non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA), compared to normozoospermic controls. Materials and Methods Between January 2018 and December 2019, from 52 infertile couples eligible for the study, 24 couples were finally enrolled in this monocentric observational prospective pilot study. Patients were included into two groups: Group 1 comprised men with NOA (n = 14) and Group 2 fertile men partners of women with female tubal factor infertility (n = 10). All NOA patients underwent testicular sperm extraction. The expression of circulating miR‐20a‐5p in plasma samples was assessed by RT‐qPCR. A relative quantification strategy was adopted using the 2−ΔCq method to calculate the target miR‐20a‐5p expression with respect to miR‐16‐5p as endogenous control. Results Median blood plasma miR‐20a‐5p was significantly higher in patients affected by NOA (0.16 2−ΔCt, range: 0.05‐0.79 2−ΔCt) than in fertile controls (0.06 2−ΔCt, range: 0.04‐0.10 2−ΔCt), P  .05). Conclusions MiR‐20a‐5p could represent a novel non‐invasive diagnostic biomarker of male infertility.
ISSN:2047-2919
2047-2927
DOI:10.1111/andr.12816