Association between androgen receptor gene CAG trinucleotide repeat length and testicular histology in older men.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the size of CAG repeat in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene is related to impaired spermatogenesis in older men.


METHODS
Study of two groups of older men: one with preserved spermatogenesis and the other with arrested spermatogenesis.


METHODS
University teaching hospital.


METHODS
Twenty-eight men aged from 53 to 102 years.


METHODS
The DNA fragment encoding the AR polyglutamine tract was amplified from DNA of testis tissue.


METHODS
The size of the CAG repeat was evaluated by using fluorescent-labeled polymerase chain reaction performed on an ABI Prism 377 DNA sequencer followed by automated analysis with Genscan 3.1.2 software.


RESULTS
Mean CAG repeat length was 22.76 +/- 3 in the group of 13 aged men with preserved spermatogenesis and 21.86 +/- 2.23 in the group of 15 aged men with arrested spermatogenesis.


CONCLUSIONS
Impaired spermatogenesis in elderly men does not seem to be correlated with the AR gene CAG repeat length, which therefore does not appear to be a risk factor for impaired spermatogenesis in older men.
Dakouane-Giudicelli
Mbarka
M
Service Histologie Embryologie Biologie de la Reproduction-Cytogénétique, Saint-Quentin, France. dakouane@hotmail.com
Legrand
Beatrice
B
Bergere
Marianne
M
Giudicelli
Yves
Y
Cussenot
Olivier
O
Selva
Jacqueline
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000235:genetics*; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013737:Testis / Q000473:pathology*; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats / Q000235:genetics*
D011944:Receptors, Androgen