association between the jc polyomavirus infection and male infertilityjc多瘤病毒感染之间的联系和男性不育.pdf

Association between the JC Polyomavirus Infection and Male Infertility 1 2 1 2 3 4 Manola Comar , Nunzia Zanotta , Eleonora Croci , Immacolata Murru , Roberto Marci , Cecilia Pancaldi , 2 2 2 2 1 4 Ornella Dolcet , Stefania Luppi , Monica Martinelli , Elena Giolo , Giuseppe Ricci , Mauro Tognon * 1 Institute for Maternal and Child Health - IRCCS ‘‘Burlo Garofolo’’– Trieste, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy, 2 Institute for Maternal and Child Health - IRCCS ‘‘Burlo Garofolo’’– Trieste, Trieste, Italy, 3 Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy, 4 Section of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy Abstract In recent years the incidence of male infertility has increased. Many risk factors have been taken into consideration, including viral infections. Investigations into viral agents and male infertility have mainly been focused on human papillomaviruses, while no reports have been published on polyomaviruses and male infertility. The aim of this study was to verify whether JC virus and BK virus are associated with male infertility. Matched semen and urine samples from 106 infertile males and 100 fertile males, as controls, were analyzed. Specific PCR analyses were carried out to detect and quantify large T (Tag) coding sequences of JCV and BKV. DNA sequencing, carried out in Tag JCV-positive samples, was addressed to viral protein 1 (VP1) coding sequences. The prevalence of JCV Tag sequences in semen and urine samples f