{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T23:12:11Z","timestamp":1782861131491,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,7]],"date-time":"2020-02-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1581033600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005317","name":"Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["96118"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["96118"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005317","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["The Journal of Gene Medicine"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Autophagy affects various aspects of the male reproductive system. Any defects in this process may lead to azoospermia. However, the exact molecular mechanisms of the autophagy pathway have remained largely obscure. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate levels of autophagy pathway gene expression (i.e. <jats:italic>Lc3B<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Beclin1<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>ATG5 and Bcl2<\/jats:italic>) in azoospermic patients.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>The levels of <jats:italic>Lc3B<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Beclin1<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>ATG5<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Bcl2<\/jats:italic> mRNA expression in azoospermic patients and fertile males were evaluated by a real\u2010time polymerase chain reaction technique. In addition, diagnostic evaluation based on the receiver\u2010operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results obtained showed the decreased expression of <jats:italic>Lc3B, Beclin1<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>ATG5<\/jats:italic> genes in infertile patients compared to the control group (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.05), whereas <jats:italic>Bcl2<\/jats:italic> expression was increased in samples (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.05). A diagnostic evaluation by ROC curve and calculation of the area under the curve showed that, using a cut\u2010off relative quantification of 4.550, 0.052, 0.056 and 0.012, the sensitivity of <jats:italic>Lc3B, Beclin1<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>ATG5<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Bcl2<\/jats:italic> genes was 87.5%, 93.8%, 93.8% and 90%, respectively. In addition, a specificity of 76.7%, 76.7%, 93.3% and 81.2%, respectively, was observed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>As a first study, the current research suggests that an alteration in the expression of autophagy pathway genes may be associated with male infertility. Based on our finding, the increased expression of <jats:italic>Bcl2<\/jats:italic> and formation of Becline1\/Bcl2 complex, which inhibits Beclin1 recruitment, may lead to a decrease of the autophagy process in azoospermic patients. Accordingly, upon further investigation, the autophagy could be considered as an important aspect during spermatogenesis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/jgm.3161","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,1,16]],"date-time":"2020-01-16T07:05:20Z","timestamp":1579158320000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Autophagy related gene expression status in patients diagnosed with azoospermia: A cross\u2010sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Rezvan","family":"Asgari","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Biology Research Center Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences  Kermanshah Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mitra","family":"Bakhtiari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Biology Research Center Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences  Kermanshah Iran"},{"name":"Fertility and 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