VASECTOMY REVERSAL ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES PRODUCTION BY SEMINAL FLUID LEUKOCYTES AND SPERM

Purpose: Reactive oxygen species, which are primarily produced by leuk ocytes, are generally detrimental to sperm. High reactive oxygen speci es levels are found in men with abnormal sperm function, Since men oft en have poor sperm characteristics and infertility after vasectomy rev ersal, we compared reactive oxygen species in seminal cells of men aft er vasovasostomy to those of fertile men to determine if reactive oxyg en species were elevated in the former group. Materials and Methods: W e studied semen samples of men with proved fertility (39) and those wi th previously proved fertility who had undergone vasectomy reversal (4 5). The presence of leukocytes was determined by Bryan-Leishman staini ng. Reactive oxygen species endogenous activity was monitored by lumin ol dependent chemiluminescence in washed cells, including all cells in the semen, and Percoll density gradient purified sperm. Results: Afte r vasovasostomy men had significantly lower sperm concentration, motil ity and computerized motility measurements than fertile men. Mean reac tive oxygen species in washed seminal cells after vasovasostomy was 68 4 relative light units per second compared to 49 for fertile controls (p <0.0001). Density gradient purified sperm had 53 and 0.64 relative Light units per second, respectively (p <0.0001). When men with leukoc ytospermia were excluded from analysis, differences between the groups remained, although 9 times more reactive oxygen species were detected in men after vasectomy reversal with than those without leukocytes in semen. Conclusions: Higher levels of reactive oxygen species are foun d in washed seminal cells and purified sperm after vasectomy reversal than in those of fertile men. Although leukocytes are probably a signi ficant source of reactive oxygen species in these groups, they may not account for all of the increased reactive oxygen species after vasova sostomy. Low motility after vasectomy reversal may be related to the d etrimental effects of reactive oxygen species produced by leukocytes o r sperm, even in men without clinical leukocytospermia.