New Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplant Method to Treat Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome.

Male infertility can be caused by absence or qualitative defect in spermatogenesis, which usually affects patient mental and physical health. Sertoli cell-only syndrome represents the severest form of histological phenotype of male infertility. Sertoli cell-only syndrome are difficult azoospermic cases to be treated, as the only cell available in the seminiferous tubules is Sertoli supportive cells with total absence of spermatogenesis. Most cases of Sertoli cell-only syndrome cannot be explained by the already known genetic causes, including karyotype abnormalities and microdeletions of the Y chromosome. With the development of sequencing technology, studies on screening new genetic causes of Sertoli cell-only syndrome are growing in recent years. Few cases have shown success in spermatogenesis with different modalities including hormonal stimulation. Here, we describe a 40-year-old male patient with azoospermia who was diagnosed by testicular biopsy to have Sertoli-cell only syndrome and who responded to a new technology encompassing autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell testicular transplant. This treatment led to the formation of round cells in the seminiferous tubules, representing the first stage in the process of spermatogenesis. These results open the door for future studies, including regenerative medicine techniques to cure the difficult cases of azoospermia and infertility.