LEUKOCYTOSPERMIA IN MALE-INFERTILITY PATIENTS IN CHINA

Recent studies have revealed a high prevalence of leukocytospermia (> 1 x 10(6) white blood cells ml-1 semen) in male infertility patients i n the USA and certain European countries, and have implicated white bl ood cells as a cause of infertility. Since leukocytospermia may often be attributed to male genital-tract infections, its prevalence could v ary widely in different populations depending on factors such as sexua l practices and the prevalence of sexually transmitted pathogens. In t he study described here the incidence of leukocytospermia was determin ed in a group of 101 male infertility patients and a small reference g roup of normal fertile men in Beijing, China. Seminal white blood cell s (WBC) and WBC sub-populations were enumerated by peroxidase staining and immunohistological assay. Eight out of 101 (7.9%) samples from in fertility patients and 0/10 samples from fertile donors were leukocyto spermic. The incidence of leukocytospermia in the Chinese infertility patients was considerably lower than the 23% incidence observed in a r ecent study of infertility patients in the USA using a similar techniq ue. All but one of the patients with leukocytospermia had a poor sperm count and/or poor sperm motility. However, due to the low incidence o f leukocytospermia and the small number of patients in this group, a s tatistically significant association between leukocytospermia and poor semen quality was not attained. The simple peroxidase test correlated well with the more expensive and technically demanding immunohistolog ical assay for detection of white blood cells in semen.