Evaluation of tiRNAs as potential seminal biomarkers with prognostic utility in assisted reporduction treatments.

GROSSO, J; CALVO, K; MARAVAL, M. B; ZOFF, L; PEREZ, M; CARBONARO, M; BRIGNARDELLO, C; MORENTE, C; SPINELLI, S.V.

Congreso; reunión anual SAIC SAI SAFIS 2020; 2020

Infertility affects 15% of the world?s population and the male factor is involved in half of the cases. Since, conventional semen analysis provides a limited prediction of male fertility potential, in this work we evaluated the potential use of quantification of abundant seminal sRNAs as markers of assisted reproduction treatments outcomes. These molecules are key regulators of physiological and pathological processes with a great impact on reproductive function. To accomplish our goal, we performed a prospective study with couples who underwent a ICSI treatments with donated oocytes at PROAR Medical Center between 2015-2019. Seminal samples from these normozoospermic men were collected and seminal tiRNALys, tiRNAGlu, tiRNAGly and let-7 were quantified by RT-qPCR. The results obtained demonstrated that levels of all three tiRNAs but not let-7 are significantly elevated in seminal samples from cases with failed ICSI cycles, suggesting a potential association between increased seminal tiRNAs and unexplained male infertility. To further characterize the role of seminal tiRNAs in male infertility, correlation studies were also carried out. Interestingly, they showed a negative association between them and seminal testosterone, highlighting the involvement of these molecules in male endocrinology. Our finding also suggest that these molecules could play a role in modulating male reproductive function in response to physiological stress since they showed significant associations with the degree of sperm DNA fragmentation in fertile men but not in cases with failed ICSI cycles where seminal cortisol levels are altered.