influence of a single nucleotide polymorphism in mir-196a2 on idiopathic asthenozoospermia in iranian azeri males

Introduction: asthenozoospermia (azs), sperm immobility, is one of the major cause of men infertility. evidence suggested that micrornas (mirnas) play a critical role in spermatogenesis process. however, the association of mirnas polymorphisms with idiopathic male infertility remains unknown. therefore, we investigated correlation between mir-196a2 rs11614913 polymorphism and idiopathic azs among iranian azeri men.materials and methods: in this study, 50 men with idiopathic azs (case group) as well as 50 age and ethnically matched healthy men (control group) were enrolled from east azerbaijan, iran. the proteinase k method was used to extract the genomic dna from sperm samples. finally, genotyping was conducted using tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (tetra-arms pcr) method. results: the frequency of tt, tc, and cc genotypes were 12%, 54%, and 34%, respectively, in patients with azs; whereas the figures were 8%, 40%, and 52% in healthy controls, respectively. we found a significant difference between case and control groups in term of cc genotype frequency (p = 0.016). conclusion: we found a significant correlation between mir-196a2 rs11614913 polymorphism and azs in iranian azeri men.