Downregulation of miR-211 expression in blood plasma of infertile men compared to the fertile controls

Abstract Background: Infertility is defined as the inability of a couple to conceive after one year of having regular unprotected sex. Changes in the expressions of miRNAs are associated with impaired spermatogenesis and can be used as potential biomarkers of infertility in males. This study aimed to evaluate the expression levels of miR-211 as a predictive factor in plasma samples of intertile men compared to the controls Methods: In this case-control study, blood plasma samples were taken from the infertile men (n=103) non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) or severe oligozoospermia (SO) and the control group (n=121). The expression of circulating miR-211 in plasma samples were assessed by qRT-PCR. A relative quantification strategy was adopted using the2–ΔΔCT method to calculate the target miR-211 expression level in both study groups.Results: Plasma miR-211 levels were significantly lower in infertile men compared to the control (0.544±0.028 and 1.203±0.035, respectively, p<0.001). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that miR-211 expression level correlated with sperm parameters, including sperm concentration, sperm total motility, progressive motility, and normal morphology (P<0.001).Conclusions: It seems that decreased expression level of miR-211 in blood plasma can be used as a novel male infertility biomarker for evaluation, diagnosis, and confirmation of semen analysis results.