[Correlation between ERp57 and pregnancy of intrauterine insemination].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between the pregnancy rate of intrauterine insemination (IUI) and the ERp57 expression level in donor sperm.


METHODS
Forty-two sperm samples were divided into 3 groups according to the pregnancy rate: Group A (n = 16, pregnancy rate = 0), B (n = 13, pregnancy rate 10%-20%) and C (n = 13, pregnancy rate > or = 20%). The optical density (OD) was normalized to the beta-tubulin band for the evaluation of the ERp57 level.


RESULTS
OD (ERp57/Tubulin) was 0.95 +/- 0.24 in Group A, 1.33 +/- 0.43 in Group B and 1.33 +/- 0.39 in Group C. The ERp57 expression level was significantly lower in Group A than in B and C (P < 0.05), with no significant differences between the latter two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The ERp57 expression level in donor sperm could be used as an index to predict the pregnancy rate of IUI and to avoid IUI failure by removing low-level donor sperm.
Zhang
Bin
B
Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China. zhangbin99011@163.com
Bian
Zeng-Hui
ZH
Su
Jian-Tang
JT
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D019704:Protein Disulfide-Isomerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism*
D019704:Protein Disulfide-Isomerases; C085868:PDIA3 protein, human