ABSTRACT
Vitamin D deficiency is a common health issue around the world. We therefore evaluated the associations of semen quality with both serum and seminal plasma vitamin D levels and studied the mechanisms underlying these by incubating spermatozoa with 1,25(OH)2D In vitro. Two hundred and twenty-two men were included in our study. Vitamin D was detected using an electrochemiluminescence method. Spermatozoa used for In vitro experiments were isolated by density gradient centrifugation. Positive relationships of serum 25(OH)D with semen volume and seminal plasma fructose were identified. Seminal plasma 25(OH)D level showed no relationship with serum 25(OH)D level, while it was inversely associated with sperm concentration and positively correlated with semen volume and sperm kinetic values. In vitro, sperm kinetic parameters increased after incubation with 1,25(OH)2D, especially upon incubation for 30 min with it at a concentration of 0.1 nmol l-1. Under these incubation conditions, the upward migration of spermatozoa increased remarkably with increasing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration. The concentration of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and the activity of protein kinase A (PKA) were both elevated, and the PKA inhibitor, N-[2-(p-Bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide dihydrochloride (H89) reversed the increase of ATP production. The concentrations of cytoplasmic calcium ions and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) were both enhanced, while mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) inhibitor, Ruthenium 360 (Ru360) did not reverse the increase of ATP production. Therefore, seminal plasma vitamin D may be involved in regulating sperm motility, and 1,25(OH)2D may enhance sperm motility by promoting the synthesis of ATP both through the cAMP/PKA pathway and the increase in intracellular calcium ions.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Young Adult , Adenosine Triphosphate/metabolism , Calcium/metabolism , Cyclic AMP/metabolism , Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases/metabolism , Semen/metabolism , Semen Analysis , Signal Transduction/physiology , Sperm Motility/physiology , Spermatozoa/metabolism , Vitamin D/pharmacology , Vitamin D Deficiency/blood , Wit and Humor as TopicABSTRACT
Objective@#To investigate the relationship between the serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level and semen parameters.@*METHODS@#We collected the data about 726 outpatients at the Male Infertility Clinic of Jinling Hospital from September 2015 to November 2016, including 72 with non-obstructive azoospermia, 123 with oligospermia, and 531 with normal sperm concentration. We obtained the semen volume, total sperm count, sperm concentration, sperm motility, the percentages of progressively motile sperm (PMS) and morphologically normal sperm (MNS), and the levels of serum AMH, inhibin B (INH-B), total testosterone (TT) and follicle - stimulating hormone (FSH) of the patients, analyzed the correlation of the serum AMH level with the other parameters, and compared the AMH level among different groups.@*RESULTS@#The serum AMH level was found to be correlated positively with the total sperm count (r = 0.227, P 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the serum AMH level among the patients with non-obstructive azoospermia, oligozoospermia, and normal sperm concentration (［6.33 ± 4.26］ vs ［8.26 ± 3.98］ vs ［9.8 ± 5.19］ ng/ml, P <0.001).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Serum AMH is a biomarker reflecting the function of Sertoli cells and its level is significantly correlated with sperm concentration and motility, suggesting that AMH may be involved in spermatogenesis and sperm maturation.