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Elevated Nitric Oxide Concentration in the Seminal Plasma of Infertile Males: Nitric Oxide Inhibits Sperm Motility
Author(s) -
Nobunaga Toshikatsu,
Tokugawa Yoshihiro,
Hashimoto Kazumasa,
Kubota Yasue,
Sawai Keisuke,
Kimura Tadashi,
Shimoya Koichiro,
Takemura Masahiko,
Matsuzaki Noboru,
Azuma Chihiro,
Saji Fumitaka
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 1046-7408
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0897.1996.tb00162.x
Subject(s) - nitric oxide , sodium nitroprusside , sperm , sperm motility , andrology , motility , chemistry , endocrinology , medicine , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
PROBLEM: To evaluate the “effect of nitric oxide in the seminal plasma on sperm motility. METHOD: Seminal plasma concentrations of NO 2 — , a stable end product of nitric oxide, of 108 males of infertile couples and 15 proven fertile donors were measured and compared with spermatogram parameters. Motile sperm was incubated with a nitric oxide‐generating drug, sodium nitroprusside, for 6 hr in the absence or presence of oxyhemoglobin, an inhibitor of nitric oxide. RESULTS: The NO 2 — concentration in the seminal plasma was 6.58±0.56 μM in 26 infertile males with leukocytospermia, 5.51±0.25 μM in 82 infertile males without leukocytospermia, and 3.91±0.16 μM in 15 controls. There was a significant correlation between the NO 2 — concentration and sperm motility. Sodium nitroprusside reduced the sperm motility in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner and its reduction was completely inhibited by the addition of oxyhemoglobin. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that nitric oxide concentration in the seminal plasma of infertile males is elevated and that nitric oxide is an inhibitor of sperm motion.