Semen quality is affected by HLA class I alleles together with sexually transmitted diseases.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus includes several genes with key roles in antigen presentation and immune response, some of them inclusively found to be associated with non-obstructive azoospermia. Still, HLA connections to other infertility phenotypes such as semen hyperviscosity (SHV), asthenozoospermia (AST), and oligozoospermia (OLI) have been often neglected.

Objectives

In this work, we aimed to evaluate the association of HLA class I and II genes with SHV, AST, and OLI phenotypes while exploring a possible role in an adaptive immune response to sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

Materials and methods

Whole-exome sequencing was performed in a Portuguese cohort of 71 infertility cases and 68 controls, followed by HLA typing using a specific sof

SUBMITTER: Marques PI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6768700 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature