COMPARISON OF INDIVIDUAL ANTIOXIDANTS OF SPERM AND SEMINAL PLASMA IN FERTILE AND INFERTILE MEN

Objective: To measure individual antioxidants in sperm and seminal pla sma from fertile and infertile men to determine if any particular anti oxidant is reduced in infertile men. Design: Semen samples were prepar ed by a discontinuous Percoll gradient to separate sperm and seminal p lasma, and the antioxidant concentrations of each were assessed. Sampl es also were screened for phorbol ester-induced reactive oxygen specie s (ROS) activity. Setting: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Clinical Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Patient(s): Fifty-nine male patients attending our infertili ty center: 18 men whose wives had ongoing pregnancies from IVF with no rmozoospermic semen profiles, 20 infertile men with normozoospermic an d 21 men with asthenozoospermic semen profiles. Main Outcome Measure(s ): Ascorbate, urate, sulphydryl groups, tocopherol and carotenoid conc entrations were measured in sperm and seminal plasma from fertile and infertile men. Result(s): In seminal plasma, ascorbate contributes alm ost twice as much as urate and thiol levels are about one third of asc orbate. Ascorbate levels in seminal plasma of asthenozoospermic indivi duals (+ROS) are significantly reduced. In sperm, thiols contributed m ost anti ascorbate only a fraction of the total. Conclusion(s): In sem inal plasma, ascorbate, urates, aid thiols are the major antioxidants present. In contrast, within sperm, this group is thr major contributo r. In samples exhibiting ROS activity, ascorbate concentrations in the seminal plasma are significantly reduced.