en |
Association between seminal plasma neopterin and oxidative stress in male infertility: A case-control study
Ghiasvand, Tayebeh; Goodarzi, Mohammad Taghi; Shafiee, Gholamreza; Zamani, Alireza; Karimi, Jamshid; Ghorbani, Marzieh & Amiri, Iraj
Abstract
Background: Neopterin is a significant and sensitive marker in estimating the
activity of cellular immune system. Oxidative stress plays a role in the etiology of
male infertility. Increased reactive oxygen species is accompanied with increase in
neopterin level. Hence neopterin may be involved in male infertility.
Objective: The objective of this case-control study was to determine neopterin level
in idiopathic infertile and normospermic men; furthermore, to identify its
relationship with oxidative stress markers including total oxidant, malondialdehyde,
sperm DNA fragmentation, and total antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma.
Materials and Methods: Forty seven infertile and forty three normospermic males
were selected according to WHO criteria. Their semen and blood samples were
taken; subsequently, the levels of neopterin, total oxidant, total antioxidant,
malondialdehyde, and sperm DNA fragmentation were measured.
Results: The levels of neopterin, total oxidant, and malondialdehyde in seminal
plasma of infertile males were significantly higher than those of normospermic
group (p=0.038, 0.018, and 0.028, respectively). Furthermore, sperm DNA
fragmentation in infertile men was higher than that of control group (p<0.001).
Moreover, total antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma in infertile males was
significantly lower than that of normospermic subjects (p=0.002). No significant
difference was observed in serum neopterin, total oxidant, and malondialdehyde
between the infertile and normospermic groups.
Conclusion: The significant inverse correlation between seminal plasma neopterin
and total antioxidant in the infertile males supports a possible role of neopterin in
male infertility. Neopterin can be suggested as a marker in monitoring and diagnosis
of idiopathic male infertility.
Keywords
Infertility; Neopterin; Oxygen radical absorbance capacity; DNA damage.
|