Use of sex chromosome bivalent pairing in spermatocytes of nonobstructive azoospermic men for the prediction of successful sperm retrieval

Leah Yogev*, Einav Zeharia, Sandra E. Kleiman, Batia B. Maymon, Ron Hauser, Amnon Botchan, Haim Yavetz, Gedalia Paz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To find the most informative method of XY bivalent detection for spermatozoa presence in testicular tissue of nonobstructive azoospermic men. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Institute for the Study of Fertility, affiliated with a university medical faculty. Patient(s): Thirty-five men with azoospermia, divided into subgroups: complete maturation arrest (n = 10), mixed atrophy (n = 14), and obstructive azoospermia (n = 11). Intervention(s): Testicular tissue biopsies for sperm extraction. Main Outcome Measure(s): Histopathologic and cytology analyses and the presence of XY bivalent formation by fluorescence in situ hybridization probes for centromere and subtelomere regions. Immunostaining of γ-H2AX for sex body (SB) identification was also performed. Result(s): Percentage of spermatocytes with X-Y pairing, determined by the paired short arms pseudoautosomal region, was significantly higher than percentage of spermatocytes with long arm telomeres in proximity in all three groups. The parameter of q telomeres in proximity was the most sensitive index to distinguish one group from the other. Stained SB by γ-H2AX was found to be the most informative for the prediction of successful sperm retrieval. Conclusion(s): Alignment of the X and Y axes that occurs in the late zygotene stage probably precedes the stage in which the SB is stained by γ-H2AX. Consequently, because of the nonhomogeneity of the testis, when histology raises suspicion of complete maturation arrest percentage of spermatocytes with stained SB is the most informative parameter for sperm presence on sperm retrieval.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)106-112
Number of pages7
JournalFertility and Sterility
Volume86
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2006

Funding

FundersFunder number
Hirsch and Genia Wassermann Memorial Fund for Medical Research
Tel Aviv University

    Keywords

    • Azoospermia
    • FISH
    • meiosis
    • sex bivalent
    • sex body
    • γ-H2AX

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