Hypoxia pathway has more impact than inflammation pathway on etiology of infertile men with varicocele.

This study aimed to compare main molecular markers of hypoxia (HIF1-α and P53) and inflammation (TLR-2, TLR-4 and TNF-α) pathways between infertile men with varicocele and fertile individuals. Sperm parameters such as sperm concentration, motility and morphology were assessed according to World Health Organization (Laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen. Geneva, Switzerland, 2010) guideline in 20 infertile men with grade II or III varicocele, and 20 fertile men candidate of family balancing. In addition, sperm DNA fragmentation and molecular markers involved in hypoxia and inflammation pathways were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) assay and real-time PCR respectively. Mean of sperm parameters (concentration, motility and morphology) and DNA integrity were significantly lower in infertile men with varicocele compared to fertile individuals. Unlike markers involved in inflammation pathway, mean expression of markers of hypoxia pathway (HIF1-α and P53) was significantly higher in infertile men with varicocele compared to fertile individuals (p < 0.05), and also a significant correlation was observed between expression of HIF1-α and P53 (r = 0.461; p = 0.003). Overall, the result of this study suggests higher likelihood of involvement of hypoxia pathway, in comparison with inflammation pathway, in pathogenesis varicocele associated with male infertility.