International Journal of Medical Laboratory

Infertility is a reproductive-related disorder and different factors account for its development. Male factors contribute to at least 20% of infertility. Despite the efforts performed in this field, the causes often remain idiopathic. Epigenetic factors such as small non-coding RNAs play important functions in male infertility. Also, P-element induced wimpy testis in drosophila-interacting RNAs, as a class of sncRNAs, are involved in spermatogenesis. Therefore, they can be used as a novel and promising approach in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of male infertility. However, this still requires further investigations. This is one of the first studies that reviewed recent investigations on the potential role of piRNAs in male infertility and in human population and can help to better understanding of the etiology of these conditions and diagnosis of patients.