The Johnson score was significantly decreased in the varicocele testes when compared with non-varicocele testes.Expressions of HSP90, TNF, KITLG and the KIT-receptor gene were significantly downregulated (P=0.029, 0.047, 0.004 and 0.035 respectively) in varicocele-induced testes whileHSP70 was upregulated (P=0.018). Here, TNF is linked to varicocele.