Table 1.
Characteristics of patients and controls in the different studies.
| Studies | Number | Criteria of Patient’s Inclusion | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferlin et al., 2013 [21] | 61 normozoospermic men 20 idiopathic oligozoospermic men |
Volunteers participating in a screening protocol for prevention of andrological disorders | 18–19 |
| Thilagavathi et al., 2013 [22] | 32 men with idiopathic infertility 25 controls |
Normal female partner examination Men seeking vasectomy and that have fathered a child < 2 years |
N.A. |
| Turner et al., 2013 [23] | 45 unselected men | Men undergoing diagnostic semen analysis | 21–49 |
| Antunes et al., 2015 [24] | 2 oligozoospermic men 1 asthenozoospermic men 1 oligoasthenozoospermic men 6 normozoospermic men |
Male partners of couples undergoing ART treatment | 32–48 |
| Yang et al., 2015 [25] | 418 men undergoing their 1st fresh cycle of IVF | Normal chromosome karyotypes, no Y chromosome microdeletions | 30.3 ± 4.0 |
| Yang et al., 2015 [26] | 105 infertile men | Infertile men | 31.2 ± 6.1 |
| Cariati et al., 2016 [27] | 19 oligozoospermic men 54 controls |
Men who had requested sperm DNA fragmentation and aneuploidy analyses Normozoospermic men |
31–52 |
| Mishra et al., 2016 [28] | 112 infertile men 102 controls |
Male partners of couples with primary infertility Healthy volunteers |
18–45 |
| Rocca et al., 2016 [29] | 100 normozoospermic men | Men referred for semen analysis | 34.0 ± 8.6 |
| Biron-Shental et al., 2018 [30] | 16 sub-fertile men 10 controls |
Men undergoing ICSI with normo-ovulatory partners after 1 year of unprotected intercourse Proven fertility in the last year |
29–42 |
| Heidary et al., 2018 [31] | 30 idiopathic nonobstructive azoospermia 30 controls |
Men undergoing ICSI Healthy fertile males |
35.4 ± 4.2 |
| Lafuente et al., 2018 [32] | 30 infertile patients | Patients attending the fertility clinic for diagnosis | N.A. |
| Torra Massana et al., 2018 [13] | 60 samples used in a total of 676 ICSI cycles | Donor samples used for ICSI | 24.3 ± 5 |
| Yang et al., 2018 [33] | 247 obstructive azoospermia 349 nonobstructive azoospermia 270 controls |
Physical obstruction in the male reproductive system, normal testicular volume, hormone levels, indurated epididymis Spermatogenic dysfunction, abnormal hormone levels, soft testes Sperm counts ≥ 39 × 106/mL, couples with known female factor infertility |
25–38 |
| Darmishonnejad et al., 2019 [34] | 10 infertile men with previous failed/low fertilization 10 controls |
Male partners of couples with previous low [<20%] fertilization rates following ICSI within the last 12 months Couples with ≥ 2 live children of the same sex who requested preimplantation genetic testing for family balancing, percentage of fertilization between 50% and 100% |
38.10 ± 4.17 40.11 ± 3.14 |
| Berneau et al., 2020 [35] | 65 normozoospermic men | Male partners of couples undergoing ART treatment | 25–45 |
| Darmishonnejad et al., 2020 [36] | 38 infertile men 19 controls |
Infertile men with primary infertility Men with ≥ 1 health child |
≤45 20–50 |
| Lopes et al., 2020 [37] | 73 unselected men 61 patients |
Men undergoing ART treatment Patients undergoing embryo transfer cycles |
39.3 ± 4.1 |
| Amirzadegan et al., 2021 [38] | 10 oligozoospermic men 10 controls |
Sperm count <15 million/mL | 40.30 ± 3.75 35.46 ± 5.59 |
| Gentiluomo et al., 2021 [39] | 585 unselected men | Men undergoing semen evaluation | 18–59 |
| Rocca et al., 2021 [40] | 4 oligoasthenoteratozoospermic men 31 normozoospermic men 30 controls |
Men from couples who underwent their first fresh ICSI treatment Male partners of couples with successful pregnancy within the first 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse |
39 ± 6.4 36.1 ± 6.8 |
| Balmori et al., 2022 [41] | 20 normozoospermic men ≤ 25 years 17 oligoasthenozoospermic men ≤ 25 years 20 normozoospermic men ≥ 40 years 20 oligoasthenozoospermic men ≥ 40 years |
Sperm donors ≤ 25 years Men undergoing ART treatment ≥ 40 years |
21.20 ± 2.35 21.44 ± 2.28 43.30 ± 3.43 43.60 ± 3.95 |
ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection; N.A., not available; ART, assisted reproductive technology; IVF, in vitro fertilization. Age is expressed as mean ± standard deviation of the mean or as an age range.