Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Enzyme Gene Expression of Infertile Men Before and After Sperm Activation in vitro | ||
| Egyptian Journal of Medical Microbiology | ||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 01 April 2026 | ||
| Document Type: Review articles | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejmm.2025.412713.1826 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Noor H. Al-naji* 1; Ismail H. Aziz2; Saad S. Al-Dujaily3 | ||
| 1Biology Department, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq | ||
| 2Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology for Postgraduate Studies, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq | ||
| 3Department of Physiology, High Institute for Infertility Diagnosis and Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Infertility is characterized by the inability to achieve pregnancy after engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse for at least one year. Objective: This study aims to examine the expression levels of the GSK3A gene in infertile men, both before and after in vitro sperm activation. Methodology: Semen samples from 100 men: 50 with (oligozoospermia and oligoasthenozoospermia) as patients or infertile men and 50 healthy controls were collected at Al-Najaf Fertility Center. In vitro sperm activation was performed using FertiCult™ flushing medium with the swim-up technique, and GSK3A gene expression was measured by RT-qPCR. Results: The data of this study demonstrated significant improvement in progressive sperm motility (P < 0.006) and morphologically normal sperm (P < 0.001) in both the control and infertile men following in vitro activation compared to pre-activation values. The expression levels of GSK3A gene after activation showed a significant difference (P<0.01, P<0.035) in oligozoospermia and oligoasthenozoospermia subgroups compared to before activation, while the gene expression of control group after activation showed non- significant difference (P>0.05) compared to before activation. Conclusion: The study showed that after swim-up activation, sperm quality improved with higher progressive motility and normal morphology, while GSK3A expression improved significantly only the oligoasthenozoospermia subgroup. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Gene expression; GSK3A; in vitro activation; Male Infertility | ||
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