An association between sperm PLCζ levels and varicocele?

Abstract

Purpose We aimed to compare the expression of phospholipase C ζ (PLCζ), as one of the main sperm factors involved in oocyte activation, at both RNA and protein levels in fertile men and those with varicocele. Methods This study included 35 individuals with male factor infertility presenting primary infertility with grade II and III unilateral varicocele and 20 fertile men without varicocele. Semen parameters were assessed according to WHO 2010. Sperm DNA fragmentation, relative expression of PLCζ at messenger RNA, and protein levels were evaluated by sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), real-time PCR, and Western blot analysis, respectively. Results The results of this study reveal that the mean relative expression of PLCζ was significantly lower in individuals with varicocele compared to fertile men at both transcription and translation levels. In addition, the percentage of DNA fragmentation was significantly higher in infertile men with varicocele compared to fertile men. Conclusions The findings of the present study illustrate that one of the etiologies of reduced fertility associated with varicocele is the low expression of PLCζ. This effect could subsequently reduce the sperm ability to induce oocyte activation. Therefore, these results hold promise to modify our understanding of reproductive physiology of varicocele state.

Oligoasthenoteratozoospermic (OAT) men display altered phospholipase C ζ (PLCζ) localization and a lower percentage of sperm cells expressing PLCζ and post-acrosomal sheath WW domain-binding protein (PAWP)

“…Consistent with that study, the percentage of sperm cells expressing PLCζ was significantly lower in our patients with OAT, indicating PLCζ impairment in these patients ( Figure 2B). Other studies have also demonstrated decreased expression and/or atypical localization of PLCζ in globozoospermic patients [25][26][27][28], patients with grade II and III varicocele [29], and patients with previous fertilization failure [16,25,[30][31][32].…”

Sperm DNA Fragmentation: A New Guideline for Clinicians

“…SDF testing can serve as an ancillary test to conventional semen analysis in specific clinical scenarios. Evidence indicates that higher levels of SDF are observed in patients who are unable to conceive naturally [149,[273][274][275], who present with UMI/idiopathic infertility [185,188,[276][277][278][279][280][281][282], have RPL [116,138,[180][181][182][183][283][284][285][286][287][288][289][290][291][292][293][294][295], are diagnosed with varicocele [169][170][171][172][173][174][296][297][298][299][300][301][302][303][304]…”

Phospholipase C zeta profiles are indicative of optimal sperm parameters and fertilisation success in patients undergoing fertility treatment

“…This is particularly concerning for PLCζ localisation patterns, where a dominant motif has yet to be isolated in relation to sperm health. To this degree, previous attempts to examine PLCζ profiles in human spermatozoa in relation to male conditions [24][25][26]28,[39][40][41][42] have been viewed with caution due to antibody specificity and protocol sensitivity. 30,43,44 Predictably, such shortcomings have led to conflicting results between the association of specific PLCζ localisation patterns and quantification levels.…”