Genetic analysis of three polymorphic sites of the luteinizing hormone beta-subunit gene in infertile Korean men with nonobstructive azoospermia

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the genetic background of nonobstructive male factor infertility. DESIGN: Clinical and controlled study. PATIENT(S): Ninety-five nonobstructive male infertile patients (75 with azoospermia, 18 with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia, and two with oligozoospermia) and 200 healthy fertile control men. INTERVENTION(S): Patients were investigated for genetic background including karyotype, Yq chromosome deletion, and three polymorphisms of the LH beta-subunit gene (Trp8Arg, Ile15Thr, and Gly102Ser). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): To determine three polymorphisms of the LH beta-subunit gene. RESULT(S): An abnormal karyotype was found in 11 of the 75 patients with azoospermia and one of the 18 patients with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. Eleven (12%) had one or more deleted sites at 13 loci on Yq. The Gly102Ser variant of the LH beta-subunit gene was not detected at all. The frequency of double Trp8Arg and Ile15Thr heterozygotes was similar between the fertile (14.5%, n = 200) and infertile (12.6%, n = 95) groups, with the exception of one homozygous mutation (Arg8 and Thr15) from patient with azoospermia. CONCLUSION(S): Three variants of the LH beta-subunit gene (Trp8Arg, Ile15Thr, and Gly102Ser) may not be associated with male factor infertility. We found one homozygous Arg8 and Thr15 mutation in a patient with azoospermia with normal hormone levels (FSH, LH, PRL, T), a normal karyotype, and no Yq microdeletions.