Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on December 9, 2004
Human Reproduction 2005 20(3):782-788; doi:10.1093/humrep/deh647
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/3/782    most recent
deh647v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lin, Y. M.
Right arrow Articles by Lin, J. S. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lin, Y. M.
Right arrow Articles by Lin, J. S. N.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Human Reproduction Vol. 20 No. 3 © The Author 2004; all rights reserved

Messenger RNA transcripts of the meiotic regulator BOULE in the testis of azoospermic men and their application in predicting the success of sperm retrieval

Yung Ming Lin1,5, Pao Lin Kuo2, Ying Hung Lin3, Yen Ni Teng4 and Johnny Shinn Nan Lin1

Departments of 1 Urology, 2 Obstetrics & Gynecology and 3 Institute of Basic Medical Science, National Cheng Kung University, College of Medicine, Tainan, Taiwan and Department of 4 Early Childhood Education and Nursery, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, Taiwan

5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Urology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan, Taiwan 704. Email: linym{at}mail.ncku.edu.tw

BACKGROUND: Testicular sperm retrieval can lead to paternity for azoospermic patients with spermatogenic failure. The human BOULE gene, a meiotic regulator of germ cells, is a gene whose altered expression may be associated with sterility. We determined the levels of BOULE transcripts in the testes of azoospermic patients, and evaluated the relationship between BOULE transcript levels and patients' testicular phenotypes, clinical parameters and sperm retrieval results. METHODS and RESULTS: BOULE transcript levels in the testes of 41 azoospermic patients were examined by quantitative competitive-reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. A significant decrease in BOULE transcript levels was detected in patients with spermatogenic failure, and BOULE transcript levels progressively decreased with increasing severity of testicular failure. BOULE transcript levels did not correlate with the serum hormone parameters measured. Significantly higher BOULE transcript levels were detected in 19 patients with successful sperm retrieval than in 12 patients with failed sperm retrieval. When using a cut-off value of 0.5 for BOULE transcript ratio to predict the success of sperm retrieval, both the sensitivity and specificity value were 100%. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest the BOULE transcript plays an important role in human spermatogenesis and that the levels may predict the presence of testicular sperm in patients with spermatogenic failure.

Key words: azoospermia/BOULE/testis


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol Hum ReprodHome page
E. Kostova, C.H. Yeung, C.M. Luetjens, M. Brune, E. Nieschlag, and J. Gromoll
Association of three isoforms of the meiotic BOULE gene with spermatogenic failure in infertile men
Mol. Hum. Reprod., February 1, 2007; 13(2): 85 - 93.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
Y. S. Cheng, P. L. Kuo, Y. N. Teng, T. Y. Kuo, C. L. Chung, Y. H. Lin, R. W. Liao, J. S. N. Lin, and Y. M. Lin
Association of spermatogenic failure with decreased CDC25A expression in infertile men
Hum. Reprod., September 1, 2006; 21(9): 2346 - 2352.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
Y. M. Lin, Y. N. Teng, C. L. Chung, W. C. Tsai, Y. H. Lin, J. S. N. Lin, and P. L. Kuo
Decreased mRNA transcripts of M-phase promoting factor and its regulators in the testes of infertile men
Hum. Reprod., January 1, 2006; 21(1): 138 - 144.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.