Association Of The VDAC2Gene Polymorphism With Semen Quality In Idiopathic Male Infertility

Objective:To firstly investigate the possible association between VDAC genetic variants and human sperm quality.Materials and Methods:Variants genotyping of VDAC2subtype (rs2804535, rs7896741, rsl1001334and rs1259503) and semen analysis was performed in523Han-Chinese males with idiopathic infertility by TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays and computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) respectively. Then, to clarify the association between VDAC2genetic variant and idiopathic male infertility, we expanded the sample capacity by adding a control group consisting of241fertile men and analyzed the genotype distribution of each SNP.Results:No significant association was found between rs2804535and rs7896741genotypes and semen quality. However, it was found that the TT genotype of rs11001334showed a significantly lower sperm concentration compared with the CC genotype (P=0.045). More over, the sperm motility between CT genotype and CC genotype was also significantly different (P=0.026). The same trend was found between the combination of CT and TT genotype and CC genotype (P=0.037). Regarding variant rs1259503, subjects with GC and CC genotype had significantly lower semen volume in comparison with GG genotype (P=0.039).Conclusion:These findings indicated that the genetic variants in the VDAC gene may be associated with semen quality.