RESUMO
PURPOSE: The complaint of infertility are found in patients with chronic prostatits. In vitro studies tend to show that the addition of massive micro organisms to semen results in decreased viability. Because such massive concentrations of pathogens seldom occur in the secretory fluids of infected prostate gland and chronic non bacterial prostatitis is more common, it seems that the chronic prostatitis produces infertility on the basis of the change in composition of seminal plasma besides a direct effect of the pathogen on spermatozoa. There is evidence that fluids from the accessory genital glands play an important role in sperm viability and fertility. The plasma membrane of spermatozoa is composed of cholesterol and phospholipid. The correlation exists between cholesterol to pohospholipids membrane ratio and cholesterol to phospholipid ratio in seminal plasma. We examined the change in the concentration of cholesterol and phospholipid of seminal plasma in patients with chronic prostatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Semen from 14 healthy males and 23 chronic prostatitis patients were evaluated for the concentration of cholesterol and phospholipid of seminal plasma. RESULTS: The ages(mean +/- standard error) of control and patients with chronic prostatitis were 28.0 +/- 1.4 year and 27.0 +/- 0.4 year(p>0.05). The concentrations(mean +/- standard error) of cholesterol in control and patients with chronic prostatitis were 26.4+/-3.gmg/dl and 23.3+/- 1.8mg/dl(p>0.05). The concentrations(mean +/- sandard error) of phospholipid in control and patients with chronic prostatitis were 858.1 +/-23.7mg/dl and 789.9+/-6.0mg/dl(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The decreased concentration of phospholipid of seminal plasma in patients with chronic prostatitis was found and this fact is helpful to understand the causes of functional change of sperm in patients with chronic prostatitis.