Category Ranking

98%

Total Visits

921

Avg Visit Duration

2 minutes

Citations

20

Article Abstract

Objective: To study the global DNA methylation pattern in spermatozoa of patients with varicocele as well as investigate their semen quality.

Design: Prospective observational case-control study.

Setting: University-affiliated hospital.

Patient(s): A total of 26 men with varicocele and 26 fertile men without the disorder.

Interventions: Analysis of semen quality and sperm DNA methylation patterns.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Semen quality evaluated by semen analysis, and sperm DNA methylation patterns investigated using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip platform.

Result(s): Men with varicocele displayed decreased semen quality. The sperm DNA methylation analysis showed that men with varicocele exhibit global hypomethylation in comparison with the control group. A total of 59 differentially methylated CpG sites were identified, most of them hypomethylated in the varicocele group. In regional analyses, 1,695 DNA regions were differentially methylated in men with varicocele. These regions show associations with gamete generation, meiotic and meiosis cell cycle, and semen quality based on gene ontology analysis.

Conclusion(s): Gene ontology results suggest that changes in methylation may be associated with the low semen quality phenotype observed in some varicocele patients because the observed differentially methylated regions in varicocele patients are related to male reproductive pathways. Additionally, the varicocele grade may influence the magnitude of global sperm DNA methylation change. To our knowledge, this is the first report analyzing changes at a regional or CpG-specific level in men with varicocele.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2020.04.045DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

dna methylation
24
men varicocele
24
semen quality
20
sperm dna
16
differentially methylated
12
varicocele
11
methylation pattern
8
quality sperm
8
gene ontology
8
varicocele patients
8

Similar Publications

The effect of non-functionalized polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) with diameters of 29, 44, and 72 nm on plasmid DNA integrity and the expression of genes involved in the architecture of chromatin was investigated in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The cells were incubated with PS-NPs at concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 100 µg/mL for 24 hours.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

PRMT1-Mediated PARP1 Methylation Drives Lung Metastasis and Chemoresistance via P65 Activation in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Research (Wash D C)

September 2025

State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype, characterized by a high propensity for metastasis, poor prognosis, and limited treatment options. Research has demonstrated a substantial correlation between the expression of protein arginine N-methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) and enhanced proliferation, metastasis, and poor outcomes in TNBC. However, the specific role of PRMT1 in lung metastasis and chemoresistance remains unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unraveling epigenetic drivers of immune evasion in gliomas: mechanisms and therapeutic implications.

Front Immunol

September 2025

Precision Pharmacy and Drug Development Center, Department of Pharmacy, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.

Gliomas are the most common primary malignant tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), and despite progress in molecular diagnostics and targeted therapies, their prognosis remains poor. In recent years, immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment modality in cancer therapy. However, the inevitable immune evasion by tumor cells is a key barrier affecting therapeutic efficacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the predictive role of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status on the efficacy of bevacizumab (BEV) in high-grade glioma (HGG), while excluding the interference of chemotherapy agents.

Methods: A retrospective, single-center analysis was conducted on 103 patients with HGG who received BEV treatment. The enrolled patients were grouped based on their different biomarker statuses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Immediate and durable effects of maternal tobacco consumption on placental DNA methylation: a replication and discovery study.

Environ Epigenet

May 2025

Université Grenoble Alpes, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR 5309, Institut pour l'Avancée des Biosciences (IAB), Team of Environmental Epidemiology Applied to Development and Respiratory Health, 38000 Grenoble, France.

An increasing number of epigenome-wide association studies report tobacco smoking-associated DNA methylation levels. However, comprehensive replication studies remain scarce, particularly in placenta, despite their crucial interest in such a large-scale context. Using DNA methylation data from the EPIC array of 341 new placentas (85 smokers, 219 non-smokers, and 37 former smokers) from the EDEN cohort, we used a candidate approach to replicate maternal smoking-associated CpGs and regions previously identified using the 450K array, and an exploratory approach to discover new associations within EPIC-specific CpGs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF