Objective: To characterize and localize interleukin (IL)-1 alpha and IL-1 b
eta in human sperm cells.
Design: Prospective and comparative study.
Setting: Andrology clinic of a university hospital.
Patient(s): Two groups of normogonadotropic men: 17 fertile men (donors wit
h proved fertility) and 8 oligoteratoasthenospermic infertile men. Interven
tion(s): None.
Main Outcome Measure(s): Evaluation of IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta levels and
expression in sperm cells by immunohistochemical staining, immunoassay, and
Western blot analysis.
Result(s): Both types of IL-1-like molecules (IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta) wer
e expressed in the tail, neck, and head of sperm cells of fertile men and p
atients with oligateratoasthenospermia. Swim-up sperm cells from fertile me
n and patients with oligoteratoasthenospermia secreted similar levels of IL
-1-like molecules. The levels of IL-1 beta-like molecules were higher than
those of IL-1 alpha-like molecules in both groups. The expressed IL-1-like
molecules were characterized by the presence a 60-kd protein for both IL-1
alpha-like and IL-1 beta-Like molecules. In some samples of both fertile me
n and infertile men with oligoteratoasthenospermia, 17-kd, 33-kd, and 45-kd
IL-1 beta-like molecules were detected. Impairment of sperm function, such
as decreased sperm count and motility and/or impaired morphology, was not
related to the capacity of sperm cells to produce IL-I-like molecules.
Conclusion(s): IL-1 molecules originating in sperm cells may play a role in
the physiologic functions of sperm cells (autocrine effect) and/or in cell
-cell interactions within the testis (paracrine effect). (C) 2000 by Americ
an Society for Reproductive Medicine.