Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes in male infertility.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Mammalian spermatozoa are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and are very susceptible to attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and membrane lipid peroxide ion. Normally a balance is maintained between the amount of ROS produced and that scavenged. Cellular damage arises when this equilibrium is disturbed. A shift in the levels of ROS towards pro-oxidants in semen and vaginal secretions can induce an oxidative stress on spermatozoa. The aim was to study lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and to correlate the same, with the 'water test', in male infertility. SETTINGS: Experimental study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ejaculates from a total of 83 infertile and fertile healthy individuals were obtained. Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme levels were studied and correlated with water test. RESULTS: The results indicate that (i) the antioxidant enzyme catalase showed no significant changes in the various pathological samples, (ii) antioxidant enzymes SOD and glutathione peroxidase correlate positively with asthenozoospermic samples and (iii) the degree of lipid peroxidation also correlates positively with the poorly swollen sperm tails. The increase in SOD and glutathione peroxidase values, in the pathological cases represents an attempt made to overcome the reactive oxygen species. CONCLUSION: Water test could be used as a preliminary marker test for sperm tail damage by reactive oxygen species, since it correlates very well with lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes.

Correlation between creatine kinase activity, lipid-peroxidation and water test in male infertility.

New approaches need to be pursued towards the assessment of sperm quality using biochemical markers. In order to help develop a good biochemical marker to assess sperm-membrane integrity, the enzyme creatine kinase (CK) was studied in semen of normal, oligospermic and azoospermic samples and correlated with sperm concentration, lipid-peroxidation (LP) and water test. Presence of isoforms of creatine kinase (CK-MB) was also seen. An inverse correlation was observed between CK activity and sperm concentration (p<0.001). Water test was seen to be inversely correlated with CK activity (p<0. 001). Lipid peroxidation showed positive correlation with CK activity (p<0.001). A significant correlation between loss of sperm function meditated by induction of peroxidative damage to sperm plasma membrane is indicated. Enzymes like CK can serve as good biochemical marker along with lipid peroxidation to confirm loss of sperm membrane integrity. The water test can be used as a preliminary screening test for sperm membrane integrity.

Seminal profiles of lysosomal enzymes in normal and infertile men.

Human seminal plasma is known to possess considerable proteolytic activity, much of which is associated with lysosomes. The activities of lysosomal hydrolases like alkaline proteinase, cathepsin-D, aryl-sulfatase and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase in seminal plasma from randomly chosen infertile and vasectomised men have been compared. These enzymes have been implicated in the coagulation and liquefaction processes. The role of fructose and proteins in these processes has also been studied. The results indicate that cathepsin-D and aryl-sulfatase activity in infertile men were significantly lower than normo-spermic subjects. N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase was lowest in azoospermia suggesting that it could be used as a biochemical marker for azoospermia. Conversely, alkaline proteinase showed increased levels in all the infertile cases.