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Published on: May 27, 2022
Over-expression of hsa_circ_0000116 in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia and its predictive value in
Mo-Qi Lv1, Liang Zhou2, Pan Ge1
1Department of Pathology, Medical School, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Background:
Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), identified in approximately 10% of infertile males, is a multifactorial disease whose molecular mechanisms remain unknown.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to identify the role of hsa_circ_0000116 in NOA and illustrate its predictive value in testicular sperm retrieval.
Materials And Methods:
The study included 78 individuals, 58 with NOA and 20 with obstructive azoospermia (OA). Serum hormones including testosterone (T), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), and estradiol II (E2) were measured. Testicular histopathology was analyzed by at least two pathologists. The expression of hsa_circ_0000116 in testicular tissue samples was detected using real-time PCR, and the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks were predicted using bioinformatics analysis.
Results:
Our study illustrated that the expression of hsa_circ_0000116 was significantly higher in testicular tissue samples of NOA patients than in that of OA patients. Moreover, hsa_circ_0000116 was aberrantly expressed in three different pathological types of NOA: It was significantly up-regulated in patients with Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) when compared to patients with hypospermatogenesis (HS). In addition, the expression of hsa_circ_0000116 was negatively correlated with Johnsen score, while it was positively correlated with serum FSH level. A multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that a high level of hsa_circ_0000116 was associated with a low rate of successful testicular sperm retrieval. Bioinformatics analysis and verification experiments showed that one of the most probable potential target miRNA for hsa_circ_0000116 was hsa-miR-449a. Further analysis indicated that hsa_circ_0000116 may be affecting the fertility function through a hsa_circ_0000116-miR-449-autophagy-related competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network.
Discussion And Conclusion:
We report for the first time that hsa_circ_0000116 may play pivotal roles in regulating spermatogenesis and may also be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of NOA, while acting as a predictive tool for the rate of successful testicular sperm retrieval in NOA patients.
