Vitamin D Levels in Serum, Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms and Semen Quality Correlations in Lebanon: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The role of the steroid hormone Vitamin D (VD) and its nuclear receptor (VDR) in skeletal metabolism is well known. Furthermore, research suggests that VD plays a role in female and male reproduction. However, semen quality status is not clear in infertile men with different VD serum concentrations. The aim of this study is to measure serum VD levels in infertile Lebanese men, to investigate semen quality parameters and their correlation to serum VD levels and polymorphic variations in the VDR. Materials and methods: From March to April 2013, 40 men presenting to an IVF center located in Mount-Lebanon to undergo IUI or ICSI procedure were recruited to our study. VD in serum was evaluated using ELISA method. The polymorphic regions were amplified using PCR followed by digestion with restriction enzymes FokI(rs10735810), ApaI G/T(rs11168271), TaqI T/C(rs731236). Results: No correlation was found between the ApaI and FokI polymorphismsand both VD levels in serum (P= 0.367, P=0.75 respectively) and sperm count (P=0.919).Positive correlation was found between ApaIpolymorphisms and the number of non progressive and immotile spermatozoa (P=0.012, P=0.033 respectively). Also, positive correlation was found between TaqIpolymorphisms and VD serum levels (P= 0.038). Conclusions: More studies on VD could be relevant of a potential VD supplementation that might improve semen quality of involuntary infertile men and would be beneficial both for the infertile couples and the society in general. VD supplementation can opens for a safe treatment of some cases of