No abstract

Purpose: Infertility is the situation in which pregnancy cannot be achieved despite unprotected sexual intercourse within at least one year. Male infertility can range from the entire absence of spermatozoa in the testicles (azoospermia) to noticeable variations in sperm quality. The patients with a mutation in the leptin (LEP) gene have been reported to be infertile and the patients with a mutation in the Leptin Receptor (LEPR) gene were shown to lack pubertal development. This study was performed to state if there is a relationship between azoospermic male infertility and LEP gene -2548G>A and LEPR gene Q223R polymorphisms. Materials and Methods: One hundred thirty-seven azoospermic infertile men and a hundred fertile men were included in this study. DNAs obtained from peripheral blood of participants were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) along with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technics.. Results: In terms of LEP -2548G>A (rs7799039) and LEPR Q223R (rs1137101) polymorphisms, no statistically remarkable distinction was observed in the genotype and allele distributions of azoospermic infertile and fertile men. In the composite genotype analysis, it was determined that the GGQR composite genotype was approximately 9 times more common in azoospermic infertile men than in fertile men (8.8% vs. 1.0%). Conclusion: It has been determined that LEP -2548G>A and LEPR Q223R polymorphisms may have a dual effect in azoospermic male infertility. We believe that more efficient and precise results can be obtained by conducting these studies in larger populations.