Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40195858›Full record

ArticleAsian journal of andrology2025

Integrated seminal plasma metabolomics and lipidomics profiling highlight distinctive signature of varicocele patients with male infertility.

Jing-Di Zhang, Xiao-Gang Li, Rong-Rong Wang, Xin-Xin Feng, Si-Yu Wang, Hai Wang, Yu-Tao Wang, Hong-Jun Li, Yong-Zhe Li, Ye Guo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Asian journal of andrology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

10 authors.

Jing-Di ZhangDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
Xiao-Gang LiMedical Science Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
Rong-Rong WangDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
Xin-Xin FengDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
Si-Yu WangDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
Hai WangDepartment of Urology, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Yu-Tao WangDepartment of Urology, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Hong-Jun LiDepartment of Urology, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Yong-Zhe LiDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
Ye GuoDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

abstractVaricocele (VC) is a common cause of male infertility, yet there is a lack of molecular information for VC-associated male infertility. This study investigated alterations in the seminal plasma metabolomic and lipidomic profiles of infertile male VC patients. Twenty infertile males with VC and twenty-three age-matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited from Peking Union Medical College Hospital (Beijing, China) between October 2019 and April 2021. Untargeted metabolite and lipid profiles from seminal plasma were analyzed using mass spectrometry. Four hundred and seventy-six metabolites and seventeen lipids were significantly different in infertile male VC patients compared to HCs. The top enriched pathways among these significantly different metabolites are protein digestion and absorption, aminoacyl-transfer RNA (tRNA) biosynthesis, and biosynthesis of amino acids. Different key lipid species, including triglyceride (TG), diacylglycerol (DG), ceramides (Cer), and phosphatidylserine (PS), varied between VC and HC groups. The distinct metabolites and lipids were moderately correlated. DL-3-phenyllactic acid is a potential diagnostic biomarker for VC-related male infertility (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.893), positively correlating with sperm count, concentration, and motility. Furthermore, DL-3-phenyllactic acid is the only metabolite shared by all four comparisons (VC vs HC, VC-induced oligoasthenospermia [OAS] vs VC-induced asthenospermia [AS], OAS vs HC, and AS vs HC). DL-3-phenyllactic acid significantly decreased in OAS than AS. Metabolite-targeting gene analysis revealed carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9) might be the strongest candidate associated with the onset and severity of VC. The seminal plasma metabolite and lipid profiles of infertile males with VC differ significantly from those of HCs. DL-3-phenyllactic acid could be a promising biomarker.

Indexed as

Infertility, MaleLipidomicsSemenVaricoceleAdultBiomarkersCase-Control StudiesHumansMaleMetabolomicsBiomarkersbiomarkerlipidomicsmale infertilitymetabolomicsvaricocele

Identifiers

PMID40195858
PMCPMC12422570

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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.