Increased Expression of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α in the Internal Spermatic Vein of Patients With Varicocele

HIF-1α expression in the ISV of patients with varicocele was significantly higher than in the control group. This directly shows that hypoxia related pathophysiological changes have occurred in the ISV of patients with varicocele and that hypoxia may have also occurred in the testicular tissue. Thus, it would be of interest to investigate whether decreasing HIF-1α activation and testis hypoxia could reduce the recurrence of varicocele. To our knowledge, this is the first report on HIF-1α expression in human ISV. Additional studies will be necessary to clarify the relationship between testis hypoxia and male infertility in patients with varicocele.