Testicular Nitric Oxide and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances Levels in Obstructive Azoospermia: A Possible Role in Pathophysiology of Infertility

摘要

Objective. The aim of the study is to evaluate the levelsof nitrite/nitrate and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances(TBARS) and their relationship with seminal parameters inexperimental obstructive azoospermic rats to explain the possiblemechanism of impaired sperm quality in obstructive azoospermia.Methods. A total of 10 male Spraque-Dawley rats underwentbilateral vas resection and ligation(Group-1 = vasectomy group). The findings werecompared with control group (Group-2 = sham group,n = 10). Animals were sacrificed 8 weeks after surgery. Testeswere removed and used for the evaluation of nitrate/nitrite andTBARS levels and for histology. Epididymal-aspiratedseminal plasma was used for semen count and morphological analysisaccording to the Kruger criteria. Results. Testiculartissue nitrate/nitrite and TBARS levels were 35.7 ± 3.1 μmol/g protein and 3.7 ± 0.1 nmol/g protein inGroup-1, and 19.3 ± 0.7 μmol/g protein and 3.1 ± 0.1 nmol/g protein in Group-2, respectively. Both parametersshowed statistical differences between the two groups.Testicular tissue nitrate/nitrite and TBARS levels showed negativeand statistically significant correlations with sperm motility andmorphology. Conclusions. The present study showed thattesticular nitrate/nitrite and TBARS levels were increased inobstructive azoospermia. For that reason, we concluded thatantioxidant treatment can be recommended to patients before spermextraction for artificial reproduction due to obstructiveinfertility after vasectomy reversal.