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Human Reproduction, Vol. 16, No. 4, 709-716, April 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Round spermatids from infertile men exhibit decreased protamine-1 and -2 mRNA

Klaus Steger1,7, Klaus Failing2, Thomas Klonisch3, Hermann M. Behre4, Martina Manning5, Wolfgang Weidner5, Lothar Hertle6, Martin Bergmann1 and Sabine Kliesch6

1 Institute of Veterinary Anatomy, 2 Department of Biomathematics, Institute of Veterinary Physiology, University of Giessen, 3 Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, 4 Andrology Unit, Department of Urology, University of Halle, 5 Department of Urology, University of Giessen and 6 Department of Urology, University of Münster, Germany

During spermiogenesis, histone-to-protamine exchange causes chromatin condensation. Spermatozoa from infertile men are known to exhibit an increased protamine-1 (PRM1) to protamine-2 (PRM2) protein ratio. Since patients undergoing testicular sperm extraction (TESE) followed by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) reveal low fertilization rates, whether the outcome of ICSI could be related to the percentage of round spermatids expressing PRM1-mRNA and PRM2-mRNA was investigated. Applying in-situ hybridization, 55 testicular biopsies from men undergoing TESE/ICSI were investigated. The percentage of PRM1-mRNA and PRM2-mRNA positive spermatids was significantly (P < 0.0001) decreased in men with at least qualitatively normal spermatogenesis (PRM1-mRNA: 58.4 ± 13.8%; PRM2-mRNA: 56.4 ± 11.3%) and impaired spermatogenesis (PRM1-mRNA: 32.6 ± 10.8%; PRM2-mRNA: 31.7 ± 11.1%) compared with men with obstructive azoospermia and quantitatively normal spermatogenesis (PRM1-mRNA: 79.9 ± 4.6%; PRM2-mRNA: 78.1 ± 5.7%). A positive correlation (rPRM1 = 0.733; rPRM2 = 0.784; P < 0.001) was demonstrated between the score and the percentage of PRM1-mRNA and PRM2-mRNA positive spermatids. While successful fertilization was neither related to the score, nor to the percentage of PRM1-mRNA and PRM2-mRNA positive spermatids, a significant (P < 0.05) relationship was demonstrated between successful fertilization and the PRM1-mRNA to PRM2-mRNA ratio. Therefore, the PRM1-mRNA to PRM2-mRNA ratio in round spermatids may serve as a possible predictive factor for the outcome of ICSI.

Key words: infertile men/in-situ hybridization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection/protamines/spermatogenesis

7 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Institut für Veterinär-Anatomie, Frankfurter Strasse 98, D-35392 Giessen, Germany. E-mail: Klaus.Steger{at}vetmed.uni-giessen.de


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