Association between polymorphisms in the XRCC1 gene and male infertility risk: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) might correlate with male infertility susceptibility. This association has been described; however, the findings remain inconsistent. Consequently, this meta-analysis was conducted to characterize the relationship between XRCC1 SNPs and male infertility susceptibility. METHODS/MAIN RESULTS: Studies were systematically searched in databases to evaluate the association between SNPs of XRCC1 and infertility in males. The effect measures chosen were the 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) and odds ratios (ORs). A total of 7 studies, including 6 case-controlled studies on XRCC1 Arg399Gln and 3 case-controlled studies on XRCC1 Arg194Trp, were included. Ultimately, the results of this analysis revealed that XRCC1 Arg399Gln SNPs were significantly associated with infertility in males in homozygote comparisons (GG vs GA+AA: OR = 0.614, 95% CI: 0.40–0.937, P = .024). This meta-analysis did not demonstrate a relationship between XRCC1 Arg194Trp and male infertility risk. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism was associated with a significantly decreased male infertility risk, but not XRCC1 Arg194Trp.