RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of oxidative stress with DNA integrity and semen parameters in infertile men with varicocele (VC). METHODS: This prospective study included 98 infertile males with VC. According to the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the semen, we divided the patients into a high ROS group (n=44) and a low ROS group (n=54), determined the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), motility and morphology, and analyzed their correlation with ROS in the two groups of patients. RESULTS: Compared with the patients of the low ROS group, those of the high ROS group showed a significantly higher DFI (27.38±8.10 vs 34.49±6.05, P=0.039) and a higher concentration of seminal leukocytes (ï¼»0.65±0.15ï¼½×106/ml vs ï¼»0.86±0.41ï¼½×106/ml, P=0.022), but lower sperm motility (ï¼»36.16±22.83ï¼½% vs ï¼»18.22±25.21ï¼½%, P=0.017), percentage of progressively motile sperm (ï¼»23.34±11.53ï¼½% vs ï¼»16.34±9.22ï¼½%, P=0.041), sperm curvilinear velocity (ï¼»27.03±6.21ï¼½ vs ï¼»20.62±4.38ï¼½ µm/s, P=0.013), and sperm linearity (ï¼»29.75±8.24ï¼½% vs ï¼»18.30±7.93ï¼½%, P=0.024). Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the ROS level was correlated positively with the concentration of seminal leukocytes (r=0.41, P<0.01) and DFI (r=0.21, P=0.006), but negatively with sperm curvilinear velocity (r=ï¼0.24, P=0.017), linearity (r=ï¼0.24, P=0.021), motility (r=ï¼0.31, P=0.002), and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (r=ï¼0.41, P=0.012). Additionally, the sperm DFI manifested a significant negative correlation with sperm motility (r=ï¼0.29, P<0.01) and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (r=ï¼0.34, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The level of seminal ROS is positively correlated with the sperm DFI in infertile men with varicocele, and both the ROS level and DNA integrity are associated with semen parameters.