Mutation detection in human estrogen receptor βb gene in infertile male patients by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography

Background: For screening sequence variations in genes, rapid turnover time is of fundamental importance. While, many of the current methods are unfortunately time consuming and technically difficult to implement. Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) method had been shown to be a high-throughput, time saving, and economical tool for mutation screening.
Objective: In the present study DHPLC method was used to explore the potential association between estrogen receptor β gene (ESR2) variants and male infertility.
Materials and Methods: DNA from 96 men with infertility and 96 normal male as control were screened for mutation in the nine exons of the ESR2 gene, using WAVE® DHPLC device equipped with a DNA separation column and automated sequence analysis on the ABI Prism 310.
Results: DHPLC evaluation of ESR2 gene in 96 infertile patients, revealed one heterozygous sequence variation (IVS 8–4G>A) near the 5' splicing region of intron 8 in 5 patients. No variation was identified in control population.
Conclusion: Mutation detection by DHPLC, as it is presented in this context, is a high-throughput, quick, and economical tool for mutation screening. The gene alterations in ESR2 gene that we've found might increase susceptibility to infertility; but without cDNA screening, the consequences of these genetic alterations cannot be predicted.