Relationship Between 308 Genotype Polymor-phism Of TNFα And Asthenospermia In Infertile Men

Objective:To investigate the relationship between 308 genotype polymorphism in the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa) gene and asthenospermia in infertile men.Methods:Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (ASPCR) and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were used to analyze the genotype at position -308 in the promoter region of the TNFa gene in 187 infertile male patients. The levels of TNFa in seminal plasma from these patients were measured by radioimmunoassay(RIA), and all data were performed statistical analysis by SPSS 16.0. Results: Significant difference was found in the frequency of GA/AA at position -308 in the promoter region of the TNFa gene from patients with asthenospermia (group A:21.67%), Oligoasthenozoospermia (group B:26.15%) (χ2=7.33 P=0.018<0.05) compared with infertile patients with normal sperm (C group:8.06%). Spearman method used in each group TNFa-308 allele GA+AA type and a negative correlation between sperm motility, the correlation coefficient:0.690, (P=0.000<0.05). We also found the significant difference in the levels of TNFa in seminal plasma from group A(4.23±0.45 ng/ml, PAC=0.002<0.05),group B(4.29±0.47 ng/ml, PBC=0.000<0.05),Compared with group C, but there is no difference between group A and group B(PAB=0.472>0.05). We also found the significant difference in the levels of TNFa in seminal plasma between group GA+AA and group GG (P=0.002<0.05). Compared with group GG (4.06±0.45 ng/ml), the levels of TNFa in seminal plasma increased significantly in group GA+AA (4.61±0.29 ng/ml). Conclusion:Regardless of how the sperm concentration, there are negative correlation between TNFa-308GA/AA frequency and sperm motility. Speculating on for patients with asthenospermia, anti-TNFa treatment may be an effective therapeutic opportunities. One of its mechanism probably is related to the seminal plasma levels of TNFαfor these patients. Measurement of seminal plasma levels of TNF-a may be a accessory diagnostic marker for infertility patients.