ZMYM3 : a new candidate gene in nonobstructive azoospermia?

Dear Editor, Infertility affects about 15％of couples of childbearing age.1 About half of these cases can be attributed predominantly to a male factor,such as a quantitative or qualitative impairment in spermatogenesis.The etiology of male infertility is related to anatomic,genetic,and environmental causes,being sometimes multifactorial and of unknown or idiopathic origins.At present,genetic screening for nonobstructive azoospermia(NOA)is generally limited to karyotyping for the identification of chromosome abnormalities such as 47,XXY,46,X,der(X)t(X;Y)(p22.3;pl 1.2),chromosome rearrangements,and Y chromosome microdeletions.Whole-genome analyses have shown that over 100 gene variants are associated with a male infertility phenotype,2 and the list continues to grow;hence,a large number of genes are involved in spermatogenesis.The continuing identification of genes responsible for male infertility in general and azoospermia,in particular,is a major challenge in both research and the diagnosis of male infertility.