Is increased CAG repeat length in the androgen receptor gene a risk factor for male subfertility?
OBJECTIVE
Increased length of the CAG repeat in the androgen receptor gene may be related to male subfertility. Expansion to 38-62 CAG repeats leads to the neurodegenerative disorder with male infertility called Kennedy's disease. Recently it was suggested that slight expansion is related to male subfertility. In this study we investigated the association of male subfertility with the length of CAG repeats in the androgen receptor.


METHODS
CAG repeat length in the androgen receptor gene was investigated in 75 subfertile men, who were mainly candidates for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Sperm parameters varied from azoospermia to severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. The control group consisted of 70 men who predominantly had bladder cancer. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood and genotyping was performed with polymerase chain reaction based methods.


RESULTS
No statistically significant difference in the mean length of the CAG repeat plus or minus standard deviation was noted in subfertile men and controls (22.2 +/- 3.1 and 21.7 +/- 3.4, respectively). The length of the CAG repeat in the androgen receptor was not related to the degree of impaired spermatogenesis or clinical characteristics of the subfertile men.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased length of CAG repeats in the androgen receptor gene is not a risk factor for male subfertility.
Van Golde
Ron
R
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Van Houwelingen
Kjeld
K
Kiemeney
Lambertus
L
Kremer
Jan
J
Tuerlings
Joep
J
Schalken
Jack
J
Meuleman
Eric
E
D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats
D011944:Receptors, Androgen