Using Small Non-Coding RNAs in Extracellular Vesicles of Semen as Biomarkers of Male Reproductive System Health: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Reproductive dysfunction and urogenital malignancies represent a serious health concern in men. This is in part as a result of the absence of reliable non-invasive tests of diagnosis/prognosis. Optimizing diagnosis and predicting the patient’s prognosis will affect the choice of the most appropriate treatment and therefore increase the chances of success and the result of therapy, that is, it will lead to a more personalized treatment of the patient. This review aims firstly to critically summarize the current knowledge of the reproductive roles played by extracellular vesicle small RNA components, which are typically altered in diseases affecting the male reproductive tract. Secondly, it aims to describe the use of semen extracellular vesicles as a non-invasive source of sncRNA-based biomarkers for urogenital diseases.

Keywords

• urogenital diseases
• male infertility
• prostate cancer
• semen
• extracellular vesicles
• sncRNAs