Purpose: Idiopathic asthenospermia is the most common type of male infertility. Although the mechanisms causing asthenospermia are complex, recent studies have indicated an important role of cation channel of sperm (CATSPER) gene downregulation or abnormality in the etiology of idiopathic asthenospermia.
Methods: In the present study, 192 patients with idiopathic asthenospermia and 288 healthy controls were enrolled, and a flight mass spectrometry using Sequenom's MassArray biochip system was applied for genotyping 16 CATSPER gene SNPs reported in the human single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) database.
Results: Our results indicated a correlation between CATSPER1 SNPs and idiopathic asthenospermia. In particular, the exonal SNP rs1893316 in CATSPER1 significantly correlated with idiopathic asthenospermia risk and is a potential important factor in determining an individual's genetic susceptibility to idiopathic asthenospermia.
Conclusion: These finding will help to further elucidate the role of CATSPER1 in idiopathic asthenospermia pathogenesis.
Keywords: Cation channel of sperm (CATSPER); Idiopathic asthenospermia; Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).