Evaluation of Seminal Plasma Antioxidants and Serum Male Hormones Status in Infertile Patients with Unbalanced Chromosomal Abnormalities

摘要

Background: Male infertility appears to be a major clinical problem among men of reproductive age in allsocieties. Idiopathic male infertility is considered to be a multifactorial disorder affected by genetic, environmental,and hormonal factors. Oxidative stress seems to stand out as one of the underlying mechanisms. In this context, weaimed to evaluate seminal plasma antioxidants SOD (superoxide dismutase), GPx (glutathione peroxidase), CAT(catalase) and zinc levels, hormone levels, and semen parameters in fertile donors and patients with unbalancedchromosomal abnormalities.Methods: Semen samples from 119 patients with unbalanced chromosomal abnormalities and 30 fertile menwere analyzed according to World Health Organization guidelines (2010). All patients underwent a measurement oftestosterone (T), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Seminal plasma antioxidantsactivities of SOD, GPx, CAT and zinc concentration were measured using colorimetric methods.Results and conclusion: Hormonal analysis showed statistically significant increase of FSH and LH levels in allpatients (p0.001). However, a significant decrease of serum testosterone level was observed in patients comparedto fertile group (p0.05). Seminal antioxidant system evaluation revealed a significant decrease of CAT, GPx, SODand zinc activities in infertile group compared to fertile group (p0.05). Our study showed that patients withunbalanced chromosomal abnormalities had significant alterations of antioxidant system and a significantperturbation of hormonal levels which interfere with fertility. These alterations may be due to a loss or derangementof chromosomal segments containing genes involved in the regulation of these systems.