Abstract

X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) is a scaffold protein and a key element in DNA base excision repair process. Although, the role of XRCC1 polymorphisms in male infertility has been studied broadly, it is still a matter of debate. Hence, in order to shed light on the problem, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the overall effect of XRCC1 polymorphisms in male infertility risk. Databases, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched until September 15, 2018. Afterwards, the genotypes' distribution, genotyping methods, and ethnicity groups were extracted, and overall analyses were conducted. A total number of five researches on 1,407 subjects and 974 controls were found to meet our criteria in this meta-analysis. The XRCC1 Arg399Gln (rs25487) polymorphism was analyzed. This is the first meta-analysis to investigate the association of XRCC1 polymorphisms (codon 399) and male infertility risk. Our results indicated that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism was not associated with male infertility risk in the total studied populations