Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41545405›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

Effect of telomere length and related gene polymorphism in signaling pathway on semen quality.

Xueshan Jia, Jinhu Cao, Shengnan Zhang, Ke Feng, Ju Li, Haibin Guo, Xiaowei Qu, Ling Tao, Yanyan Yang, Aihua Wu and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. 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

14 authors.

Xueshan JiaSchool of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, 450001, Zhengzhou, China.
Jinhu CaoXinyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xinyang, 453003, China.
Shengnan ZhangSchool of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, 450001, Zhengzhou, China.
Ke FengHenan provincial people's hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China.
Ju LiSchool of inspection, Xinyang Vocational and Technical College, Xinyang, 46400, China.
Haibin GuoHenan provincial people's hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China.
Xiaowei QuHenan provincial people's hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China.
Ling TaoSchool of inspection, Xinyang Vocational and Technical College, Xinyang, 46400, China.
Yanyan YangXinyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xinyang, 453003, China.
Aihua WuCenter for Reproductive Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University(Dongguan People's Hospital, The 10th, Dongguan, 523058, China.
WeiHang Ling
Chen ZhangAsian Academy of Anti-aging Research and Translational Medicine, Shenzhen, 518000, China. chenzhang_ired@fudan.edu.cn.
Qingfeng TianSchool of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, 450001, Zhengzhou, China. zzutqf@126.com.
Guang-Hui ZhangSchool of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, 450001, Zhengzhou, China. zhgh221@tmmu.edu.cn.

Funding

Guangzhou Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation 2023A03J0240Key Research Projects of Higher Education Institutions in Henan Province 26B330005Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province 2022A1515012443Shenzhen Park Project of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone HZQSWS-KCCYB-2024031)The National Natural Science Foundation of China 82273663
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigates sperm telomere length (STL), gene polymorphisms in telomere-related pathway genes, and semen quality, were detected to evaluate their potential as a biomarkers of semen quality. Associationally, it explores between gene polymorphisms and STL, and semen quality. A total of 1,349 male volunteers from the Pu-yang Reproductive Medicine Center were selected as research subjects. Computer-aided sperm analysis analysis was employed to assess semen parameters. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was utilized to measure STL, while polymerase chain reaction was used to detect gene polymorphisms. The correlation between STL, related gene polymorphisms, and semen parameters was subsequently analyzed. Among the 1,349 subjects, the proportions of semen volume, total sperm count, sperm concentration, progressive motility, and total sperm motility meeting the criteria exceeded 80%, whereas the proportion of normal morphology was only 32.46%. The results of the restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis indicated that STL exhibtied a nonlinear relationship with sperm concentration (P < 0.001) and total sperm count (P = 0.007). After categorizing STL levels into quartiles, the risk of abnormalities in total sprem count (OR = 0.37[0.15,0.94], P = 0.037), sperm concentration (OR = 0.31[0.11,0.83], P = 0.020), progressive motility (OR = 0.27[0.12,0.61)], P = 0.002), and total vitality percentage (OR = 0.19[0.07,0.51], P = 0.001) was lower in the third quartile when compared to the first quartile. We explored the relationship between genetic variation in three key telomere pathway genes (POT1, TERF1, and TERT), STL, and semen parameters. STL levels were significantly higher in individuals carrying the POT1 rs1034794 mutant allele than in type individuals (β = 6.17, P = 0.005). We observed that the POT1 rs1034794 and rs10250202 variants were negatively correlated with total sperm count (β=-64.47), progressive motility (β1=-9.76; β2=-6.99), and total vitality percentage (β1=-11.80; β2=-7.04). The TERT rs2735940 variant was negatively correlated with Wobble (WOB) and Linearity (LIN). There is a non-linear relationship between STL and sperm concentration as well as total sperm count. STL may serve as potentially reliable biomarker of semen quality. Furthermore, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in telomere-associated pathway genes (POT1, TERT) were significantly associated with sperm parameters and STL. This suggests a novel hypothesis thought polymorphisms in telomere pathway genes may indirectly regulate semen parameters by affecting STL.

Indexed as

Polymorphism, GeneticPolymorphism, Single NucleotideSemen AnalysisSignal TransductionSpermatozoaTelomereTelomere HomeostasisAdultHumansMaleSperm CountSperm MotilityGene polymorphismsModerating effectSemen parametersSperm telomere length (STL)

Identifiers

PMID41545405
PMCPMC12909296

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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 Socratic graph.