Protein compositions in the seminal plasma are similar between severe oligospermic and healthy fertile men / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyse the variability of proteins in the seminal plasma of severe oligospermic and healthy fertile men.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Spermatic fluid samples were collected from 11 healthy fertile men and 6 severe oligospermic male volunteers and tested by SELDI-TOF-MS with the CM10 protein chip to get the protein spectra maps, which were automatically treated with the special softwares of Ciphergen Inc.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean peak heights of 2 lower-abundance proteins expressed in the seminal plasma of the severe oligospermic men were statistically different from the healthy fertile males (P<0.05). Fifteen different proteins existed between the nonobstructive azoospermic and the severe oligospermic group, 7 of which, with m/z of 7,196.058, 7,547.610, 5,780.493, 7,059.844, 7,409.589, 5,379.173 and 10,778.810, also between the non-obstructive azoospermic and the healthy fertile males (P<0.05). Except the latter two, the contents of the other 5 proteins were decreased in the non-obstructive azoospermic men (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The finger prints of the seminal plasma proteins of the severe oligospermic group were similar to those of the healthy fertile males, both significantly different from the non-obstructive azoospermic men. It is suggested that pathogenesis mechanisms differ exist between non-obstructive azoospermia and severe oligospermia but are not the simple accumulation of genetic factors.</p>