THE EFFECTS OF PENTOXIFYLLINE ON THE GENERATION OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES AND LIPID-PEROXIDATION IN HUMAN SPERMATOZOA

The aims of this study were to compare the in vitro effects of 3.6 mM and 7.2 mM pentoxifylline on the ability of spermatozoa to generate re active oxygen species (ROS) and on lipid peroxidation (LPO). Semen sam ples were obtained from 10 asthenozoospermic men who had been previous ly identified as producing ROS after addition of Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) during the screening of patients attending with male factor infertility. Spermatozoa were prepared by a swim-up technique f rom unprocessed semen and divided into 3 aliquots. To the control aliq uot [A] an equal volume of BWW medium was added. To aliquots B and C a n equal volume of BWW medium containing pentoxifylline was added to ob tain final concentrations of 3.6 and 7.2 mM, respectively. ROS product ion was measured from peak luminescence (mV 10(-7) sperm) using a luci genin chemiluminescent probe. LPO was also measured in the medium surr ounding the spermatozoa after 30 min exposure to pentoxifylline using the thiobarbituric acid (TEA) assay for malondialdehyde (MDA). The red uction in ROS production was significantly greater in the samples expo sed to 7.2 mM pentoxifylline as compared with the control and 3.6 mM p entoxifylline samples. There was no significant difference in peak lum inescence between control and 3.6 mM pentoxifylline specimens. Both co ncentrations of pentoxifylline caused comparable reductions in MDA con centration in the medium (P<0.05) surrounding the spermatozoa compared with control after 30 min exposure. Extracellular ROS may damage surr ounding healthy spermatozoa. These findings suggest that higher concen trations of pentoxifylline are protective against ROS release in susce ptible spermatozoa and may also reduce collateral LPO.