The First Clinical Medical College of Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, China.
Department of Urology, The 940 Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese PLA, Lanzhou, China.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Jan 11;13:1079966. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1079966. eCollection 2022.
Telomeres have an essential role in maintaining the integrity and stability of the human chromosomal genome and preserving essential DNA biological functions. Several articles have been published on the association of STL with male semen parameters and clinical pregnancy. The results, however, are either inconclusive or inconsistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis aimed to systematically assess the accuracy and clinical value of sperm telomere length (STL) as a new marker for diagnosing male infertility and predicting the quality of embryonic development.
We performed a comprehensive systematic search for relevant publications in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and Ovid, from database build to August 2022. All experimental studies exploring the association of STL with male semen quality, male infertility, or embryonic development were included.
Overall, Twelve prospective observational cohort studies (1700 patients) were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed a positive linear correlation between STL and semen parameters. The optimal cut-off value for STL diagnosing male infertility was 1.0, with a sensitivity and specificity of 80%. Regarding STL and embryonic development, the clinical pregnancy rate was associated with longer STL, and there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding fertilization rate.
Our study showed that STL has good diagnostic and predictive value for male fertility and clinical pregnancy and could be used as a new biomarker for diagnosing male infertility and predicting embryonic development.
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42022303333.
端粒在维持人类染色体基因组的完整性和稳定性以及保护重要的 DNA 生物学功能方面发挥着重要作用。已经有几篇文章发表了关于端粒与男性精液参数和临床妊娠的相关性。然而，结果要么不确定，要么不一致。因此，本荟萃分析旨在系统评估精子端粒长度（STL）作为诊断男性不育和预测胚胎发育质量的新标志物的准确性和临床价值。
我们在 PubMed、Cochrane 图书馆、Web of Science、Embase、Scopus 和 Ovid 中进行了全面的系统检索，检索时间从数据库建立到 2022 年 8 月。所有探索 STL 与男性精液质量、男性不育或胚胎发育相关性的实验研究都被纳入。
共有 12 项前瞻性观察队列研究（1700 名患者）符合荟萃分析的纳入标准。荟萃分析显示，STL 与精液参数呈正线性相关。STL 诊断男性不育的最佳截断值为 1.0，其敏感性和特异性分别为 80%。关于 STL 和胚胎发育，临床妊娠率与较长的 STL 相关，受精率在两组之间无显著差异。
我们的研究表明，STL 对男性生育力和临床妊娠具有良好的诊断和预测价值，可以作为诊断男性不育和预测胚胎发育的新生物标志物。
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/，标识符 CRD42022303333。
