Investigation of the relationship between catsper expression values in semen and sperm parameters in normospermic cases

Infertility; describes the situations in which pregnancy does not occur although couples they want to have children and have sex in a period of 1 year or more without being protected. Nowadays, 10-15% of couples are reported to have infertility. In 35% of the couples, infertility caused by women and in 35% of the couples caused by men. In 18% of the couples infertility caused by both spouses and the cases where there is no significant pathology leading to infertility in spouses, defined as unexplained infertility (12%). Among the causes of male infertility; sperm counts, mobility and sperm quality are in the forefront. Idiopathic (unexplained) infertility includes stress, environmental factors, genetic anomalies, and duct obstruction. The causes of infertility caused by women are anatomical disorders, tubal uterine obstruction and hormonal disorders. Proteins located on the spermatozoon membrane and flagellum (tail) provides the help for sperm to adhere to the oocyte membrane and into the extracellular matrix area. The structure of the CatSper protein has a heterotetrameric structure consisting of 4 subunits. The CatSper channel is located in the bullwhip of the sperm flagellate. CatSper is a semen-specific duct and has a significant impact on male fertility. It is necessary for sperm quality and healthy fertilization. In this study, it was aimed to examine the CatSper expression values after standard semen analysis with sperm samples from 50 normozoospermic cases and to examine the relationship between sperm parameters. In our study, it is thought that CatSper expressed cells will be useful in studies to increase the chances of pregnancy. Therefore, we aim to make significant contributions to the literature in terms of being the first study to evaluate the parameters. Keywords: CatSper, Concentration, Sperm