Institute for Maternal and Child Health - IRCCS Burlo Garofolo- Trieste, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e42880. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042880. Epub 2012 Aug 13.
In recent years the incidence of male infertility has increased. Many risk factors have been taken into consideration, including viral infections. Investigations into viral agents and male infertility have mainly been focused on human papillomaviruses, while no reports have been published on polyomaviruses and male infertility. The aim of this study was to verify whether JC virus and BK virus are associated with male infertility. Matched semen and urine samples from 106 infertile males and 100 fertile males, as controls, were analyzed. Specific PCR analyses were carried out to detect and quantify large T (Tag) coding sequences of JCV and BKV. DNA sequencing, carried out in Tag JCV-positive samples, was addressed to viral protein 1 (VP1) coding sequences. The prevalence of JCV Tag sequences in semen and urine samples from infertile males was 34% (72/212), whereas the BKV prevalence was 0.94% (2/212). Specifically, JCV Tag sequences were detected in 24.5% (26/106) of semen and 43.4% (46/106) of urine samples from infertile men. In semen and urine samples from controls the prevalence was 11% and 28%, respectively. A statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in JCV prevalence was disclosed in semen and urine samples of cases vs. controls. A higher JC viral DNA load was detected in samples from infertile males than in controls. In samples from infertile males the JC virus type 2 strain, subtype 2b, was more prevalent than ubiquitous type 1. JCV type 2 strain infection has been found to be associated with male infertility. These data suggest that the JC virus should be taken into consideration as an infectious agent which is responsible for male infertility.
近年来,男性不育的发病率有所增加。许多危险因素已经被考虑在内,包括病毒感染。对病毒因子与男性不育的研究主要集中在人乳头瘤病毒上,而关于多瘤病毒与男性不育的报道尚未发表。本研究旨在验证巨细胞病毒(JC 病毒)和 BK 病毒是否与男性不育有关。分析了 106 例不育男性和 100 例正常生育男性的精液和尿液样本。进行了特定的 PCR 分析,以检测和定量 JCV 和 BKV 的大 T(Tag)编码序列。对 Tag JCV 阳性样本进行 DNA 测序,以确定病毒蛋白 1(VP1)编码序列。不育男性精液和尿液样本中 JCV Tag 序列的流行率为 34%(72/212),而 BKV 的流行率为 0.94%(2/212)。具体来说,在 24.5%(26/106)的不育男性精液和 43.4%(46/106)的不育男性尿液样本中检测到 JCV Tag 序列。在对照组的精液和尿液样本中,流行率分别为 11%和 28%。病例组和对照组的 JCV 流行率存在统计学差异(p<0.05)。在不育男性样本中检测到的 JC 病毒 DNA 载量高于对照组。在不育男性样本中,2 型 JC 病毒株、2b 亚型比普遍存在的 1 型更为流行。已发现 JC 病毒 2 型株感染与男性不育有关。这些数据表明,JC 病毒应被视为引起男性不育的感染因子。