[Correlation of oxidative stress with sperm DNA integrity and semen parameters in infertile men with varicocele]
Objective To investigate the relationship of oxidative stress with DNA integrity and semen parameters in infertile men with varicocele (VC) METHODS This prospective study included 98 infertile males with VC. According to the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the semen, we divided the patients into a high ROS group (n=44) and a low ROS group (n=54) determined the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) motility and morphology, and analyzed their correlation with ROS in the two groups of patients. RESULTS Compared with the patients of the low ROS group, those of the high ROS group showed a significantly higher DFI (27.38+ 8.10 vs 34.49+ 6.05, P=0.039) and a higher concentration of seminal leukocytes [0.65+ 0.15]x106/ml vs [0.86+ 0.41]x106/ml, P=0.022) but lower sperm motility [36.16+ 22.83] vs [18.22+ 25.21] P=0.017) percentage of progressively motile sperm [23.34+ 11.53] vs [16.34+ 9.22] P=0.041) sperm curvilinear velocity [27.03+ 6.21] vs [20.62+ 4.38] mm/s, P=0.013) and sperm linearity [29.75+ 8.24] vs [18.30+ 7.93] P=0.024) Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the ROS level was correlated positively with the concentration of seminal leukocytes (r=0.41, P<0.01) and DFI (r=0.21, P=0.006) but negatively with sperm curvilinear velocity (r= 0.24, P=0.017) linearity (r= 0.24, P=0.021) motility (r= 0.31, P=0.002) and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (r= 0.41, P=0.012) Additionally, the sperm DFI manifested a significant negative correlation with sperm motility (r= 0.29, P<0.01) and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (r= 0.34, P<0.01) CONCLUSIONS The level of seminal ROS is positively correlated with the sperm DFI in infertile men with varicocele, and both the ROS level and DNA integrity are associated with semen parameters.
Zhonghua nan ke xue National journal of andrology