The expression of Beclin-1 in testicular tissues of non-obstructive azoospermia patients and its predictive value in sperm retrieval rate

Liang Zhou; Mo-Qi Lv; Pan Ge; Yan-Qi Yang; Da-Lin He; Hai-Xu Wang; Dang-Xia Zhou

doi:10.21037/tau-21-320

The expression of Beclin-1 in testicular tissues of non-obstructive azoospermia patients and its predictive value in sperm retrieval rate

Transl Androl Urol. 2021 Aug;10(8):3267-3274. doi: 10.21037/tau-21-320.

Authors

Liang Zhou^{1

2

3}, Mo-Qi Lv¹, Pan Ge¹, Yan-Qi Yang¹, Da-Lin He³, Hai-Xu Wang¹, Dang-Xia Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Medical School, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
² Assisted Reproduction Center, Northwest Women and Children's Hospital, Xi'an, China.
³ Urology Department, First Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

Background: Beclin-1 is an autophagy gene and higher levels suggest mammalian testicular damage. Our study aims at exploring the role of Beclin-1 in non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients and clarifying the predictive value of Beclin-1for sperm retrieval in microdissection testicular sperm extraction (micro-TESE).

Methods: In the present study, 62 NOA patients were finally recruited. Serum hormone including luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol II (E2), testosterone (T) and prolactin (PRL), as well as testicular volume were measured. Testicular histopathology was diagnosed by two independent pathologists. The expression of Beclin-1 was detected by real-time PCR in testicular tissue.

Results: Our study illustrated that Beclin-1 was differently expressed in three pathological types of NOA. Compared with hypospermatogenesis (HS, P=0.002) or maturation arrest (MA, P=0.049), Beclin-1 showed significantly up-regulated in Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) group. Moreover, Beclin-1 expression was obviously positive related with serum LH (rho =0.269, P=0.036), meanwhile significantly negative correlation with testicular volume (rho =-0.370, P=0.003), serum T (rho =-0.326, P=0.010), Johnsen score (rho =-0.318, P=0.012), and pathologic type (rho =-0.452, P<0.001). Furthermore, a logistic regression model demonstrated that Beclin-1 is an important predictor of failed sperm retrieval (OR =0.001, P=0.007), which exhibited a pretty AUC =78.6 (P=0.001).

Conclusions: Beclin-1 may play a critical role in spermatogenesis. Elevated Beclin-1 may be obviously associated with lower chances of positive sperm retrieval.

Keywords: Beclin-1; autophagy; non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA); spermatogenesis; testicular sperm retrieval.