Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Urology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
J Assist Reprod Genet. 2021 Mar;38(3):559-572. doi: 10.1007/s10815-021-02063-x. Epub 2021 Jan 11.
Almost 50% of infertility cases are due to male factors, and spermatogenesis failure is one of the most severe forms of male infertility. Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) also known as germ cell aplasia is characterized by azoospermia in which the seminiferous tubules of testicular biopsy are lined only with Sertoli cells. The definitive diagnosis of SCOS is by diagnostic testicular biopsy. Although SCOS may be a result of Klinefelter syndrome, most of the SCOS men have a normal karyotype. Along with genetic aberrations, signaling pathways and endocrine processes might be major factors in the development of SCOS. Sperm retrieval and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are available treatments for SCOS. However, some SCOS patients do not have therapeutic options to help them having a biological child. This review aims to summarize our present knowledge about SCOS and to highlight the importance of future researches in the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder.
大约 50%的不孕病例是由男性因素引起的，而精子发生衰竭是男性不育症最严重的形式之一。唯支持细胞综合征（Sertoli 细胞-only 综合征，SCOS）也称为生殖细胞发育不全，其特征是无精子症，睾丸活检的生精小管仅由支持细胞排列。SCOS 的明确诊断是通过诊断性睾丸活检。虽然 SCOS 可能是克氏综合征的结果，但大多数 SCOS 男性的核型正常。除了遗传异常外，信号通路和内分泌过程可能是 SCOS 发展的主要因素。精子提取和胞质内单精子注射（ICSI）是 SCOS 的可用治疗方法。然而，一些 SCOS 患者没有治疗选择来帮助他们拥有亲生子女。本综述旨在总结我们目前对 SCOS 的认识，并强调未来在该疾病的诊断和治疗方面进行研究的重要性。
