Differential RNAs in the sperm cells of asthenozoospermic patients

Alterations in the presence of sperm RNAs have been identified using microarrays in teratozoospermic (abnormal morphology) or other types of infertile patients. However, so far no studies had been reported on the sperm RNA content using microarrays in asthenozoospermic patients (low motility). We started the present project to with the goal to characterize the RNA expression in asthenozoospermic infertile patients as compared to normozoospermic fertile controls. We selected four normal fertile donors and four severe asthenozoospermic infertile patients. Equal amounts of RNA were extracted from the sperm samples, subjected to different quality controls and hybridized to the Affymetrix U133 Plus version 2 arrays.