2025/04/09 by Ester Antón, Coral Zurera-Egea, R Farriol +2 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Medicine · #Sperm and Testicular Function #Urologic and reproductive health conditions
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2025.104993
openalex publication_date 2025/04/09 · openalex created_date 2025/04/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Since its emergence in the 2000s, the study of sperm RNA has revealed their influence in sperm functions and early embryo development, positioning them as promising markers for the diagnosis of male infertility. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the potential of differentially expressed sperm mRNA associated with infertility to improve diagnostic accuracy, and to identify predictive biomarkers for successful assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes. A comprehensive search of the MEDLINE-PubMed database was conducted from inception to 28 April 2023, and a total of 67 eligible articles were selected. Data on 451 genes were extracted and analysed using a custom scoring system, revealing a strong association between altered seminal parameters and the expression of nine mRNA: AKAP4, DDX4, PGK2, PIWIL1, PRM1, PRM2, TNP1, TNP2 and PLCZ1. Notably, aberrant expression of PLCZ1, PRM1, PRM2 and PIWIL1 was closely linked with reduced ART success rates. These findings suggest that these genes constitute a panel of the most prominent biomarkers of broader transcriptomic changes, potentially reflecting disruptions in spermatogenesis. Given the complexity of diagnosing male fertility at a molecular level, integrating sperm transcriptome analysis with conventional semen assessments could enhance fertility predictions, although standardization of methodologies is essential to improve the reliability of the results.