H19 gene methylation status is associated with male infertility

The present study investigated the H19 gene methylation status in male infertility. Between March 2013 and June 2014, semen samples were collected from 15 normal fertile males and 15 males experiencing infertility, and routine analysis and sperm morphological assessment were performed. The semen samples were subjected to density gradient centrifugation to separate the sperm fraction, and genomic DNA from the sperms was extracted and treated for bisulfite modification. Following in vitro amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the purified PCR products were cloned into pMD (R) 18-T vectors and successful cloning was confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion. Positive clones were sequenced and the DNA methylation status was analyzed. The overall methylation rate in the normal fertile group was 100% (270/270), whereas in the infertile group the methylation rate was lower at 94.1% (525/558), revealing a statistically significant decrease in overall methylation rate in the infertile patients compared with the control group (chi(2)= 15.12; P<0.001). The average methylation rates of CpG 1, 3 and 6 in the infertile group were statistically different from those in the normal control group (all P<0.05). The abnormal methylation of imprinted gene H19 is associated with male infertility, suggesting that H19 may serve as a biomarker for the detection of defects in human spermiogenesis.