Sperm cyropreservation and oxidative damage. What does it mean?

摘要

About 15% of couples that desire children are affectedby infertility. Oxidative stress has been involvedin unexplained subfertility with a male factor [1].Although the excessive production of reactive oxygenspecies (ROS) is detrimental to human spermatozoa,there is a growing body of evidence that suggeststhat ROS are also involved in the physiological controlof some sperm functions. Under physiologicalconditions, small amounts of ROS are produced byspermatozoids. These ROS are necessary for efficiency,acrosomal reaction, and finally fertilization [2],but its excessive levels can negatively affect spermquality. There is a current presumption that themost prolific source of ROS in sperm suspensions isan NADPH oxidase located in leukocytes or in spermatozoathat produces superoxide, which is furtherconverted to peroxide by the action of superoxide dismutase(SOD).