Fetal Medicine Excellence Research Center, Alessandrescu-Rusescu National Institute for Mother and Child Health, 020395 Bucharest, Romania.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Elias Emergency University Hospital, 011461 Bucharest, Romania.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Mar 13;22(6):2910. doi: 10.3390/ijms22062910.
MicroRNAs applications were vastly studied throughout the years, spanning from potential cancer biomarkers to targeted therapies for various diseases. Out of these utilizations, this paper focuses on their role in male infertility. Approximately 10-15% of worldwide couples are affected by infertility. Out of these, 50% are due to male determinants. The majority of cases still have an undetermined cause. Previous studies have found that the aberrant expression of microRNAs could be linked to certain reproductive dysfunctions in males. Further on, this study looked into the most recent literature published on this subject in order to assess the connection between the up-/down-regulation of various microRNAs and the roles they play in male infertility. MicroRNAs were found to be abundant and stable in the seminal liquid, which led to a facile identification using regular RNA detection methods. It was observed that the concentration of microRNAs in semen was modified in the case of patients suffering from asthenozoospermia and azoospermia. Moreover, idiopathic male infertility was associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism of the microRNA binding site. Future studies should focus their attention on discovering future treatments against male infertility targeting specific microRNAs and also on developing new and improved contraceptive methods.
多年来，人们广泛研究了 microRNAs 的应用，从癌症潜在生物标志物到各种疾病的靶向治疗。在这些应用中，本文重点关注它们在男性不育中的作用。全球约有 10-15%的夫妇受到不育症的影响。其中，50%是由于男性因素。大多数病例仍然没有确定的原因。先前的研究发现，microRNAs 的异常表达可能与男性的某些生殖功能障碍有关。此外，本研究查阅了该主题的最新文献，以评估各种 microRNAs 的上调/下调与它们在男性不育中的作用之间的关系。microRNAs 在精液中含量丰富且稳定，这使得使用常规 RNA 检测方法很容易识别。观察到患有弱精症和无精症的患者精液中 microRNAs 的浓度发生了变化。此外，特发性男性不育与 microRNA 结合位点的单核苷酸多态性有关。未来的研究应该专注于发现针对特定 microRNAs 的男性不育治疗方法，以及开发新的和改进的避孕方法。
