Objective: To evaluate mRNA expression of the HSPA2 gene in ejaculated spermatozoa in adolescents with and without varicocele.
Design: Controlled prospective study.
Setting: Patients in an academic research environment.
Patients: Adolescent patients with clinical diagnosed bilateral varicocele grades II and III, and adolescent patients without varicocele.
Intervention: Reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of HSPA2 gene expression in adolescents with and without varicocele.
Main outcome measure: Comparative RT-PCR expression analysis of HSPA2 gene mRNA, compared to the housekeeping beta-actin gene.
Results: Sperm from adolescents with varicocele and oligozoospermia had significantly lower levels of HSPA2 gene expression than both adolescents without varicocele (controls) and adolescents with varicocele and normal sperm concentration (P<.05). The latter group had a nonsignificant increase in gene expression compared to the control group.
Conclusions: This is the first report on HSPA2 gene expression in ejaculated spermatozoa from adolescents and its relationship with varicocele pathology. Results demonstrated that HSPA2 expression was down-regulated in adolescents with varicocele and oligozoospermia compared to controls. There was a higher, albeit nonsignificant, gene expression in adolescents with varicocele and normal sperm concentration than in controls. We speculate that expression levels of this gene might be used as a molecular marker for the acquisition of thermal tolerance in ejaculated spermatozoa.