The Correlation between Sperm DNA Fragmentation and the Expression of Long Non-Coding RNA HOTAIR in Infertile Men

Infertility is a disorder of the reproductive system that affects a significant percentage of men. DNA damage and its causative agents negatively affect fertility outcomes. The present study aimed to evaluate the sperm viability, DNA fragmentation, and HOTAIR gene expression in infertile and fertile men, and to investigate the correlation between them.

Specimens of semen were obtained randomly from 25 fertile and 25 infertile men, aged between 25-55 years who were referred to Saint Maryam Fertility and Infertility Center of Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Sperm viability was assessed using Eosin-Nigrosin staining. DNA fragmentation was assessed by sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCDT). The expression of HOTAIR was detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction (real time-PCR).

HOTAIR gene expression in infertile people was significantly decreased in comparison to fertile group. HOTAIR expression level was negatively correlated with DNA fragmentation and positively correlated with sperm viability (P < 0.001).

Decreased HOTAIR expression and increased DNA damage in infertile people and the correlation between them indicating the importance of assessing DNA damage and research on their causative agents.