Open AccessLipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in infertile men: correlation with semen parameter
Author(s) -
Ben Abdallah Fatma,
Dammak Ines,
Attia Hamadi,
Hentati Basma,
AmmarKeskes Leila
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of clinical laboratory analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1098-2825
pISSN - 0887-8013
DOI - 10.1002/jcla.20297
Subject(s) - semen , andrology , sperm , superoxide dismutase , male infertility , oxidative stress , lipid peroxidation , antioxidant , catalase , acrosome , infertility , chemistry , semen analysis , medicine , biology , endocrinology , biochemistry , pregnancy , genetics
The aim of this study was to investigate the oxidative stress status and antioxidant enzyme activities in infertile men's semen and to determine their relationship with spermatozoa characteristics. Four groups of infertile men, normozoospermic ( n =9), azoospermic ( n =13), oligoasthenozoospermic ( n =38), and asthenozoospermic ( n =42), were tested for malonaldialdehyde (MDA) concentration and catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in semen using spectrophotometric methods. We found that MDA levels in semen and SOD activity in seminal plasma (SP) were significantly higher in oligoasthenozoospermic and asthenozoospermic groups compared with normozoospermic group. In contrast, the mean values of CAT activity were not significantly different in all groups. We found positive correlations between semen MDA concentration and SOD activity ( P <0.01). MDA levels in sperm pellet and in SP were also positively correlated with mobility grade b ( P <0.01), acrosome anomalies ( P <0.01), and residual cytoplasmic droplets ( P <0.05). In contrast, SOD activity in SP was negatively correlated with sperm concentration and normal morphology ( P <0.05). Similarly, CAT activity in SP was negatively correlated with sperm and leukocyte concentrations ( P <0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that the evaluation of oxidative status and antioxidant defenses may be taken as an important tool for diagnosis and treatment of male infertility. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 23:99–104, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.