Analysis of microdeletions of azoospermia factor on Y chromosome in male infertile patients from a city

Objective To investigate the relationship between microdeletion of azoospermia factor(AZF) and male infertility.Methods Multiplex PCR was used to detect Y chromosome microdeletion in AZFa,AZFb and AZFc on 118 cases of idiopathic azoospermia,84 cases of severe idiopathic oligozoospermia,and 66 cases of healthy male controls.Results No microdeletion was found in 66 controls.Y chromosome microdeletion was found in 25 of 202 azoospermia patients,the total prevalence rates of microdeletion was 12.4%.There were 17 cases(12 for azoospermia,5 for severe oligozoospermia) in AZFc(8.4%);3 cases(1 for azoospermia,2 for severe oligozoo spermia) in AZFb+c(1.5%);1 case(1 for azoospermia) in AZFa+b+c(0.5%).According to statistics,the difference between two groups was significant(P0.001).Conclusions Y chromosome microdeltions is an important reason of azoospermia,screening of Y chromosome microdeletions for azoospermia patients before ICSI treatment is essential.