Considerations when using array technologies for male factor assessment

Expression profiles from sets of genes are currently being explored as candidate diagnostics to assess male fertility status and as surrogate makers of paternal toxicological exposure. In this chapter, we describe considerations for their design when using microarrays to create a clinical diagnostic tool. Two commercially available oligonucleotide-based platforms were compared. The results are then referenced against an expressed sequence tag data set and a cDNA array. The concordance between the different platforms for genes indicated as present with high confidence and absent with high confidence when provided with the same pool of RNA is presented. Based on these data, the capacity for this technology to develop into a robust diagnostic for male factor fertility is discussed.