CYTOKINES IN SEMEN OF NORMAL MEN AND OF PATIENTS WITH ANDROLOGICAL DISEASES

PROBLEM: The potential value of assessment of cytokine concentrations for the diagnosis of certain pathological conditions of male reproduct ion has not been fully evaluated. METHOD: The concentrations of interl eukin 6 (IL-6, pg/mL), its soluble receptor (IL-6 sR, ng/mL), and of i nterleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta, pg/mL) have been measured in semen sampl es of 114 men and 12 corresponding blood sera. RESULTS: The concentrat ion of IL-6 was unrelated to that of its receptor. Both IL-6 and IL-6 sR were higher in the first (mean: 69 and 31 resp.) than in the second fraction (39 and 13) of split ejaculates, and were within normal limi ts in vasectomised men. The Interleukin 1 beta concentration presented a strong positive correlated with that of IL-6 (r = 0.74, P < 0.001). The concentrations of IL-6 and IL-1 beta were unrelated to sperm conc entration, motility and morphology, and they were within normal limits in immunological cases. Both IL-6 and IL-1 beta were higher (P < 0.01 ) in cases with accessory gland inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of in particular IL-6 in semen may contribute to the diagnosis of inf lammatory disease of the accessory sex glands (positive predictive val ue = 98%, sensitivity = 72%, specificity = 94%), but it is not relevan t for the diagnosis of immunological disease.