Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Enzyme Gene Expression in Asthenozoospermic Men Before and After Sperm Activation in vitro

Abstract

The study was conducted to treat the asthenozoospermic samples in vitro by swim-up technique and determine the gene expression of Glycogen synthase kinase (GSK3A) in semen samples of Iraqi men before and after activation in vitro. The semen samples of 50 men were collected from Al-Najaf Fertility Center in Al-Sader Medical City, Ministry of Health in Najaf-Iraq from 2024 to 2025. Following seminal fluid analysis ,25 patients with asthenozoospermia and 25 healthy fertile controls were enrolled.  In vitro sperm activation by FertiCult^TM Flushing medium using swim-up technique was performed for all semen samples. The expression levels of the GSK3A gene in semen samples were analyzed using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The results of present work revealed a highly significant improvement in active sperm motility (P<0.006) and normal sperm morphology percentages (P<0.001) in both control and asthenozoospermic (AS) patients group compared to before activation. The expression levels of GSK3A gene after activation showed a significant (P<0.01) difference in asthenozoospermic patients group compared to before activation, while the gene expression of control group after activation was shown non-significant (P>0.5) difference compared to before activation.