This can be explained by a dysregulation in the apoptosis process in the testis of men with varicocele (Fujisawa et al. 1999), which may have started in adolescence, as evidenced in a study that showed the presence of proteins with important role in DNA repair and promoting apoptosis (SMG1 and IBP3) exclusively in adolescents with varicocele and altered semen (Zylbersztejn et al. 2013). This evidence concerns the gene IGFBP3 and varicocele.