Association of USP26 haplotypes in men in Taiwan, China with severe spermatogenic defect

Aim： To complete comprehensive haplotype analysis of USP26 for both fertile and infertile men. Methods： Two hundred infertile men with severe oligospermia or non-obstructive azoospermia were subjected to sequence analysis for the entire coding sequences of the USP26 gene. Two hundred men with proven fertility were genotyped by primer extension methods. Allele/genotype frequencies, linkage disequilibrium （LD） characteristics and haplotypes of fertile men were compared with infertile men. Results： The allele frequencies of five single nucleotide polymor- phisms （370-37 linsACA, 494T〉C, 576G〉A, ss6202791C〉T, 1737G〉A） were significantly higher in infertile patients than control subjects. The major haplotypes in infertile men were TACCGA （28% of the population）, TGCCGA （15%）, TACCAA （8%）, TGCCAA （6%）, TATCAA （5%） and CATCAA （5%）. The major haplotypes for the control subjects were TACCGA （58% of the population）, CACCGA （7%）, CATCGA （6%） and TGCCGA （5%）. Haplotypes TGCCGA, TATCAA, CATCAA, CATCGC, TACCAA and TGCCAA were over-transmitted in patients with spermato- genic defect, whereas haplotypes TACCGA, CACCGA, and CATCGA were under-transmitted in these patients. Conclusion： Some USP26 alleles and haplotypes are associated with spermatogenic defect in the Han nationality in Taiwan, China.