BACKGROUND In recent studies, partial deletions of the azoospermia factor c region (AZFc) on the Y-chromosome have been detected in males with infertility problems. However, there has been a lot of debate about their significance. In order to study such deletions, a simple but accurate method for their detection was applied in this study. METHODS We present data obtained from the Multiplex Li...

Structural anomalies of the sex chromosomes provide a means to study the location of genes responsible for sex determination. Recently, a type of sex reversal in humans, the 46,XX male, was shown to result in some cases from translocation of Y chromosome material to the X chromosome. In the present report, another type of sex reversal, the 46,XY female, is shown to result, in two cases, from sm...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to estimate the frequency of Y chromosome microdeletions in the Slovenian population of infertile men and to analyse the consequences of mutation in respect to clinical severity and prognosis. METHODS In a controlled clinical study at the university-based medical genetics service and infertility clinic, 226 infertile men undergoing ICSI were tested. ...

The human Y chromosome harbors genes that are responsible for testis development and also for initiation and maintenance of spermatogenesis in adulthood. The long arm of the Y chromosome (Yq) contains many ampliconic and palindromic sequences making it predisposed to self-recombination during spermatogenesis and hence susceptible to intra-chromosomal deletions. Such deletions lead to copy numbe...

Structural abnormalities include various types of translocations, inversions, deletions, duplications and isochromosomes. Structural abnormalities of the Y chromosome are estimated to affect less than 1% of the newborn male population and are particularly hazardous for male reproductive function. The objective of this study was to characterize a group of patients with structural abnormalities o...

Deletion of the AZFc region of the Y chromosome is the most frequent molecularly defined cause of spermatogenic failure. We report three unrelated men in whom azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia was caused by de-novo AZFc deletions, and who produced sons by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We employed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to examine the Y chromosomes of their four in...

About 30–40% of male infertility is due to unknown reasons. Genetic contributions to the disruption of spermatogenesis are suggested and amongst the genetic factors studied, Y chromosome microdeletions represent the most common one. Screening for microdeletions in AZFa, b and c region of Y chromosome showed a big variation among different studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate th...

About 30–40% of male infertility is due to unknown reasons. Genetic contributions to the disruption of spermatogenesis are suggested and amongst the genetic factors studied, Y chromosome microdeletions represent the most common one. Screening for microdeletions in AZFa, b and c region of Y chromosome showed a big variation among different studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate th...

About 30–40% of male infertility is due to unknown reasons. Genetic contributions to the disruption of spermatogenesis are suggested and amongst the genetic factors studied, Y chromosome microdeletions represent the most common one. Screening for microdeletions in AZFa, b and c region of Y chromosome showed a big variation among different studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate th...

Y chromosome microdeletions are the most frequent genetic cause of severe oligozoospermia (,5 million spermatozoa/ml) and azoospermia (absence of spermatozoa in the ejaculate). Microdeletions associated with infertility occur in specific regions of the long arm of the Y chromosome, called azoospermia factor (AZF) regions. 3 In 1996, three types of AZF deletion (AZFa, AZFb, and AZFc) were descri...