Semen

About: Semen is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14571 publications have been published within this topic receiving 407739 citations. The topic is also known as: come & ejaculate.

Impact of body mass index on seminal oxidative stress

Abstract: Male obesity has been linked with a reduction in sperm concentration and motility, an increase in sperm DNA damage and changes in reproductive hormones. Recent large observational studies have linked male obesity with a reduced chance of becoming a father. One of the potential underlying pathological mechanisms behind diminished reproductive performance in obese men is sperm oxidative stress. The primary aim of this study was to determine if sperm oxidative stress was more common in obese/overweight men. A total of 81 men had their body mass index (BMI) correlated with seminal reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (Nitro Blue Tetrazolium assay), sperm DNA damage (TUNEL), markers of semen inflammation (CD45, seminal plasma PMN elastase and neopterin concentration) and routine sperm parameters, together with reproductive hormones. The principal finding from this study was that oxidative stress did increase with an increase in BMI, primarily due to an increase in seminal macrophage activation. However, the magnitude of this increase was small and only of minor clinical significance as there was no associated decline in sperm DNA integrity or sperm motility with increasing ROS production. Increased BMI was also found to be significantly linked with a fall in sperm concentration and serum testosterone, and an increase in serum oestradiol.

Embryo quality and IVF treatment outcomes may correlate with different sperm comet assay parameters

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Standard semen parameters have proven poor at predicting the outcomes of IVF treatment cycles. As recent studies suggest that the male genome may play an important role in early embryogenesis, this study attempts to correlate the level of sperm DNA damage in fresh semen and prepared sperm with the outcomes of conventional IVF treatment cycles. METHODS: Forty patients embarking on IVF treatment were recruited into this prospective observational study. Both fresh semen and PureSperm ® -prepared sperm were processed using a modified comet assay 3–6 months prior to the patients’ IVF treatment cycles. Comet head DNA (mean and integrated head density) and tail DNA parameters (length and moment) were measured separately. RESULTS: Significant correlations between total sperm concentration and between comet length, moment, mean head density with embryo quality were detected in fresh semen and prepared sperm. Surprisingly, no significant correlations between head and tail parameters were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Comet head and tail DNA parameters appear to be potentially useful as predictors of embryo quality and IVF outcomes, especially in couples with unexplained subfertility. The lack of correlation between head and tail parameters may be due to a different mechanism of DNA damage within these two compartments.

Effect of Selenium, Vitamin E, and Antioxidants on Testicular Function in Rats

Abstract: Active spermatogenesis was observed in some of the seminiferous tubules of seleniumdeficient rats born to females on a selenium-deficient diet,and only a very few spermatozoa could be recovered from the cauda epididymis of these animals. The motility of spermatozoa from these males was invariably very poor and the majority of the sperm cells showed breakage near the middle piece or principal piece of the tail. Vitamin E supplementation, even at highly elevated levels (d.a-tocopherol acetate, 1000 ppm) did not alleviate these selenium-deficiency symptoms. Rats receiving selenium-deficient diets with antioxidant supplementation also produced semen, which contained, in most cases, nonmotile spermatozoa. The role of selendiulil on spermatogenesis in rats is apparently specific and cannot be substituted either by vitamin E or by the antioxidants tested in this study.