Phospholipase C zeta parameters in sperm from polymorphic teratozoospermic men

摘要

Teratozoospermia is a disorder associated with high abnormal sperm morphology which affects fertility in males. In recent years, it has been described that biomarker-based sperm quality evaluation can alleviate male infertility treatment. Phospholipase C zeta (PLC zeta) is a sperm-specific factor which appears to be a predicting biomarker for fertilization potential of males. Following fertilization, PLC zeta enters into oocyte cytoplasm and induces oocyte activation, a fundamental stage in initiation of embryo development. Currently, PLC zeta parameters, including localization patterns, the proportion of PLC zeta-expressing sperm and the expression level, are not defined in polymorphic teratozoospermic men. This study aimed to evaluate PLC zeta parameters in polymorphic teratozoospermic men, and compare these parameters with fertile normozoospermic men. Semen samples from thirteen normozoospermic fertile men and twenty-three polymorphic teratozoospermic men were included in this study and evaluated using western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses. Our data indicated significantly lower expression of PLC zeta in polymorphic teratozoospermic men, as compared with control men; however, there was no significant difference in localization patterns and the proportion of PLC zeta-expressing sperm between polymorphic teratozoospermic patients and control men. Collectively, findings from the present study demonstrated that polymorphic teratozoospermic men did not show abnormal localization patterns or the absence of PLC zeta, as compared to the control men; nonetheless, lower expression of PLC zeta, considering its role in oocyte activation, might be one of the possible causes of infertility in these patients. (C) 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.