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The impact of androgen receptor polymorphism and parental ethnicity on semen quality in young men from Latvia

Erenpreiss, Juris LU ; Tsarev, I ; Giwercman, Aleksander LU and Giwercman, Yvonne LU (2008) In International Journal of Andrology 31(5). p.477-482
Abstract
Recent studies on young men from the general population have demonstrated geographic and ethnic differences in semen quality. The aim of this study was to investigate whether reported ethnic differences in semen quality might be associated with the maternally derived CAG and GGN polymorphisms in the androgen receptor gene or paternal ethnicity. In total 114 military conscripts from Latvia were included in the study. Information on maternal and parental ethnicity was collected by questionnaires. CAG and GGN repeats were analysed by direct sequencing of leukocyte DNA. Men with Latvian mothers (n = 83) had marginally shorter CAG repeat length (21.6 +/- 2.9) as compared with those with non-Latvian mothers (22.9 +/- 3.2, n = 31), not reaching... (More)
Recent studies on young men from the general population have demonstrated geographic and ethnic differences in semen quality. The aim of this study was to investigate whether reported ethnic differences in semen quality might be associated with the maternally derived CAG and GGN polymorphisms in the androgen receptor gene or paternal ethnicity. In total 114 military conscripts from Latvia were included in the study. Information on maternal and parental ethnicity was collected by questionnaires. CAG and GGN repeats were analysed by direct sequencing of leukocyte DNA. Men with Latvian mothers (n = 83) had marginally shorter CAG repeat length (21.6 +/- 2.9) as compared with those with non-Latvian mothers (22.9 +/- 3.2, n = 31), not reaching statistical significance (p = 0.053). Sperm concentration did not differ significantly between these two groups (76 +/- 59 and 70 +/- 52, p = 0.9 respectively). In contrast, significantly higher sperm concentration and total sperm count were found in men with Latvian fathers (n = 77) as compared with men with non-Latvian fathers (n = 37) (80 +/- 61 vs. 62 +/- 48, p = 0.035, for sperm concentration and 225.7 +/- 209 vs. 158.4 +/- 134.4, p = 0.002, for total sperm count respectively). CAG repeat length did not correlate with any semen parameters in the whole population. However, GGN repeat length correlated with semen volume: men with GGN > 23 presented with higher semen volume (3.2 +/- 2.1) as compared with men with GGN = 23 (2.6 +/- 1.3, p = 0.04) or GGN < 23 (2.0 +/- 1.2, p = 0.006). We conclude that GGN repeat length has an impact on semen volume, whereas differences in sperm numbers are associated with the paternal ethnicity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
semen quality, androgen receptor polymorphism
in
International Journal of Andrology
volume
31
issue
5
pages
477 - 482
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:17916185
  • wos:000259025400005
  • scopus:51349141235
  • pmid:17916185
ISSN
0105-6263
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2605.2007.00791.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2bc90116-a20b-42b6-a3e3-adf7e84b7a27 (old id 1137968)
alternative location
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120121562/HTMLSTART
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:39:18
date last changed
2022-01-28 01:47:06
@article{2bc90116-a20b-42b6-a3e3-adf7e84b7a27,
  abstract     = {{Recent studies on young men from the general population have demonstrated geographic and ethnic differences in semen quality. The aim of this study was to investigate whether reported ethnic differences in semen quality might be associated with the maternally derived CAG and GGN polymorphisms in the androgen receptor gene or paternal ethnicity. In total 114 military conscripts from Latvia were included in the study. Information on maternal and parental ethnicity was collected by questionnaires. CAG and GGN repeats were analysed by direct sequencing of leukocyte DNA. Men with Latvian mothers (n = 83) had marginally shorter CAG repeat length (21.6 +/- 2.9) as compared with those with non-Latvian mothers (22.9 +/- 3.2, n = 31), not reaching statistical significance (p = 0.053). Sperm concentration did not differ significantly between these two groups (76 +/- 59 and 70 +/- 52, p = 0.9 respectively). In contrast, significantly higher sperm concentration and total sperm count were found in men with Latvian fathers (n = 77) as compared with men with non-Latvian fathers (n = 37) (80 +/- 61 vs. 62 +/- 48, p = 0.035, for sperm concentration and 225.7 +/- 209 vs. 158.4 +/- 134.4, p = 0.002, for total sperm count respectively). CAG repeat length did not correlate with any semen parameters in the whole population. However, GGN repeat length correlated with semen volume: men with GGN &gt; 23 presented with higher semen volume (3.2 +/- 2.1) as compared with men with GGN = 23 (2.6 +/- 1.3, p = 0.04) or GGN &lt; 23 (2.0 +/- 1.2, p = 0.006). We conclude that GGN repeat length has an impact on semen volume, whereas differences in sperm numbers are associated with the paternal ethnicity.}},
  author       = {{Erenpreiss, Juris and Tsarev, I and Giwercman, Aleksander and Giwercman, Yvonne}},
  issn         = {{0105-6263}},
  keywords     = {{semen quality; androgen receptor polymorphism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{477--482}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Andrology}},
  title        = {{The impact of androgen receptor polymorphism and parental ethnicity on semen quality in young men from Latvia}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2605.2007.00791.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1365-2605.2007.00791.x}},
  volume       = {{31}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}