NRI Study Aims to Determine Cause of Male Infertility

Almost half of male infertility cases have no known cause. Research being done in our area may be able to provide some answers.

The study is being conducted at the NC Research Campus in Kannapolis. “This is a project that I’ve been trying to get up and running for a while now,” said Amy Johnson, a PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill. Johnson first started studying mice and found a link between a certain gene and infertility. “We found that if you delete the choline dehydrogenase gene males are infertile,” she said.

Jordan and her team are now working to find out if the same is true for humans. For the research, they need volunteers to provide samples of blood and semen. Volunteers will be paid $50 for participating in the study.

In addition to determining a possible cause, the research may lead to a possible cure for a type of male infertility. “It could be that men that have their share of these variants might have different dietary requirements for choline, which is an essential nutrient,” Johnson said.

For more information about the study, call 919-966-0245 or email sperm_study@unc.edu

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