Correlation of serum kisspeptin and leptin with non-obstructive azoospermia: A cross-sectional study in a subset of Karachi population

Objective: To determine the association of serum kisspeptin, leptin, and other hormonal profile with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) in infertile male subjects. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Australian Concept Infertility Medical Center, and Ziauddin University, Karachi from March 2018 to March 2020. The duration of the study was two years. Serum samples of 106 azoospermic participants were taken. Division of the subjects was done on a histological basis into obstructive azoospermia (OA) n=36, NOA n=70 which were further divided into spermatid maturation arrest (SMA), n=41, and sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) n=29. Serum kisspeptin and leptin were measured by ELISA (Cloud-Clone Corp). Results: The follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) (p<0.01), luteinizing hormone (LH) (p<0.01), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) (p<0.01), and estradiol (p<0.01) was significantly high in the NOA group. However, kisspeptin was significantly decreased (p<0.01) in the NOA group. In the multivariate analysis after adjusting for other variables, the results showed that with the decrease in kisspeptin, the chances of being NOA were increased. Moreover, with the increase in Leptin, FSH, LH, and TSH the chances of being NOA were significantly enhanced. Conclusion: Serum kisspeptin, leptin, FSH, LH, TSH, and estradiol can be a potential marker for NOA in terms of better diagnosis, targeted therapeutic management, and the decision to proceed with surgical intervention.