To evaluate whether defective cyclic adenosine monophosphate responsive element modulator (CREM) expression is the causative factor of spermatid maturation arrest (SMA). Comparative evaluation of the testicular histology in patients with SMA or normal spermatogenesis. University clinic of andrology. Azoospermic patients undergoing testicular biopsy. Expression of CREMτ .in quantitative immunohistochemistry analysis of testicular biopsy samples. Regular CREM expres sion was observed in the tubules with round, but not elongated, spermatids of patients with SMA (n = 9). Quantitative analysis showed that round spermatids of patients with SMA had a staining intensity similar to that observed in controls (n = 7). Lack of spermatid elongation was not due to defective CREM expression. Therefore, CREM did not play a pathogenetic role in the onset of SMA in humans.
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