Effect of human Mesoderm-Specific Transcript Gene Methylation on Oligospermia and Azoospermia Related with Men Infertility in a Sample of Iraqi Patients

Abstract

Male Infertility is a significant problem for human reproduction in recent years. Several studies focused on the role of epigenetics, including DNA methylation, in spermatogenesis and male infertility. The mesoderm-specific transcription (MEST) gene is a paternally expressed imprinted gene repeatedly linked with male infertility. This study aimed to investigate the effect of MEST gene methylation on oligospermia and azoospermia related to male Infertility. Methods: Semen samples were collected from 80 infertile patients (40 patients suffered from oligospermia and 40 patients suffered from azoospermia) from Kamal Al-Samarrai Hospital, Baghdad, also (40) semen samples were collected from healthy fertile normospermia men as a control group, with ages ranging between 20  to 50 years. Microscopic examinations of seminal fluid were performed  using routine methods, and methylated DNA was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using by high-resolution melting technique(HMR) and  which measured  the melting temperature (Tm) of PCR products after bisulfite. Results: The results identified an increased percentages of methylated gene in Azoospermia patients group (47.5) % and Oligospermia patients group (45.0%) compared to the controls (12.5 %), however, the control group showed the highest percentage (75.0 %) of non-methylated gene Conclusion: It was shown that the methylation status of the MEST gene is statistically significantly associated with the clinical presentation of the parameters whether normal or infertile, as well as MEST gene methylation may be considered an important predictor for addressing male factor infertility. Therefore, suggested that male infertility may be linked to methylation of the MEST imprinted gene.