Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29578116›Full record

ArticleAsian journal of andrology

Seminal plasma miR-192a: a biomarker predicting successful resolution of nonobstructive azoospermia following varicocele repair.

Er-Lei Zhi, Guo-Qing Liang, Peng Li, Hui-Xing Chen, Ru-Hui Tian, Peng Xu, Zheng Li

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Asian journal of andrology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Varicocele and nonobstructive azoospermia.Asian journal of andrology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Er-Lei ZhiDepartment of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Department of ART, Institute of Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Key Lab of Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 100 Haining Road, Shanghai 200080, China.
Guo-Qing LiangDepartment of Andrology, Seventh People's Hospital of Shanghai University of TCM, Shanghai 200000, China.
Peng LiDepartment of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Department of ART, Institute of Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Key Lab of Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 100 Haining Road, Shanghai 200080, China.
Hui-Xing ChenDepartment of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Department of ART, Institute of Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Key Lab of Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 100 Haining Road, Shanghai 200080, China.
Ru-Hui TianDepartment of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Department of ART, Institute of Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Key Lab of Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 100 Haining Road, Shanghai 200080, China.
Peng XuOriental Jinghua Hospital of Shenyang, Department of ART, 156 Nanjing Road, Shenyang 110005, China.
Zheng LiDepartment of Andrology, Center for Men's Health, Department of ART, Institute of Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Key Lab of Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 100 Haining Road, Shanghai 200080, China.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University · CNShanghai First People's Hospital · CNShanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate a potential marker for the presence of spermatozoa in the ejaculate following varicocelectomy in Chinese men with nonobstructive azoospermia and varicoceles. The micro-RNA (miR)-192a levels in seminal plasma and testicular tissue were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction from 60 men with nonobstructive azoospermia and varicoceles (Group A: 27 men with spermatozoa found in the ejaculate after surgery; Group B: 33 men without spermatozoa found in the ejaculate after surgery) and 30 controls. The seminal plasma and testicular tissue miR-192a levels were higher in Group B than in Group A and the controls (P < 0.001), and there was no significant difference between Group A and the controls (P > 0.05). Apoptosis and proliferation assays with miR mimics and inhibitors showed that miR-192a induced GC-2 cell apoptosis through the activation of Caspase-3 protein. Thus, seminal plasma miR-192a appears to be a potential marker for successfully indicating spermatozoa in the ejaculate following microsurgical varicocelectomy in men with nonobstructive azoospermia and varicoceles. Seminal plasma miR-192a may be a useful clinical marker for prescreening to determine which patients with nonobstructive azoospermia and varicoceles would benefit from varicocelectomy.

Indexed as

AdultApoptosisAsian PeopleAzoospermiaBiomarkersCaspase 3Cell ProliferationHumansInfertility, MaleMaleMicroRNAsMicrosurgeryPredictive Value of TestsSemenTestisTreatment OutcomeBiomarkersCASP3 protein, humanCaspase 3MicroRNAsMIRN192 microRNA, humanmiR-192anonobstructive azoospermiaseminal plasmavaricocelectomy

Identifiers

PMID29578116
PMCPMC6038165
OpenAlexW2794078965

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.