[Hand dermatoglyphic traits and azoospermia in the Chinese Han males in Ningxia area]

To investigate the relationship between hand dermatoglyphic traits and azoospermia in the Chinese Han males in Ningxia area.

Using the inkpad prints, we obtained dermatoglyphics of both hands from 212 Han males in Ningxia area, including 106 azoospermia patients and 106 fathers as normal controls. We analyzed the photographs of the prints with the Image-Pro Plus 6.0 software and compared the finger print patterns, finger ridge counts, atd angles (the angle between the index finger triradius ［a］ and the little finger triradius ［d］ to the axial triradius ［t］) and a-b ridge counts between the two groups of subjects.

The prevalence rate of radial loops in both hands was markedly higher in the azoospermia patients than in the normal controls (3.77% vs 1.70%, P < 0.01) while that of arches showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (1.89% vs 1.51%, P > 0.05). The prevalence rates of whorls and ulnar loops, the finger ridge counts, and the a-b ridge counts were all lower in the azoospermia patients than in the fertile controls though none with statistically significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The atd angles in both hands were significantly lower in the former than in the latter group (right hand: ［40.52 ± 4.61］° vs ［42.99 ± 4.65］°, P < 0.05; left hand: ［40.04 ± 4.21］° vs ［42.18 ± 4.87］°, P < 0.05).

There are some abnormal variations in the hand dermatoglyphic traits, especially the prevalence of radial loops and the atd angle in the Chinese Han male patients with azoospermia in Ningxia area.