Free radicals, total antioxidant status and interleukin-6 in seminal plasma of fertile and infertile men.

ABSTRACT

This work aimed to assess total antioxidant status, lipid peroxides [LPO], nitric oxide [NO] and interleukin-6 [IL-6] in seminal plasma of infertile men [n = 45] compared with fertile men [controls, n = 30]. The infertile men included asthenozoospermic [n = 17], asthenoteratozoospermic [n = 25] and oligozoospermic patients [n = 3]. The semen samples from fertile men showed antioxidant capacity at a higher value than equivalent samples from infertile men. Moreover, the inverse relationship between antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation in seminal plasma strongly suggested that impaired defenses play an important role in infertile disorders. Furthermore, the increased oxidative stress observed in infertile men may modulate the level of IL-6