Abiodun Mathias Emokpae

Background: Poor semen liquefaction is one of the causes of male infertility which has become a public health challenge in Nigeria. Abnormal sperm motility one of the commonest abnormalities detected in infertile males. The pathogenesis of poor liquefaction and solidification of semen are modulated by Semenogelin and some other secretions from male accessory organs. Objective: To evaluate the concentrations of Semenogelin and zinc in seminal plasma and to correlate the levels with percentage sperm motility. Materials and methods: Four hundred men, mean age 36.4±6.8 years who were evaluated for infertility and 100 men, mean age 40.2±6.6 years of proven fertility were consecutively recruited for the study. Following routine semen analysis, seminal plasma Semenogelin-1 and zinc were determined by ELISA technique and Atomic Absorption spectrophotometry techniques respectively. Data generated were compared between groups and association between Semenogelin, zinc and percentage sperm motility was determined. Results: Seminal plasma Semenogelin level was higher (p<0.001) in infertile males irrespective of the sperm concentration than controls. On the other hand, seminal plasma zinc level was lower (p<0.001) among oligozoospermia and azoospermia than controls. The mean Semenogelin level was significantly higher (p<0.001) among asthenozoospermia than those with normal percent motility while mean seminal plasma zinc level in asthenozoospermia was lower (p<0.001) than those with normal percentage motility. Seminal plasma Semenogelin (R= -0.217; p<0.005) correlated negatively with asthenozoospermia and zinc (R= -0.148;p<0.05) but zinc correlated (R-0.150;p<0.05) positively with asthenozoospermia. Conclusion: Alterations in the levels of Semenogelin and zinc are associated with asthenozoospermia among infertile males.

Male infertility is a relatively common condition affecting approximately 50% of couples. Male infertility has been associated with oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation, but calculated lipid peroxidation index is seldomly used to assess the extent of oxidative stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of lipid peroxidation index of oligospermic infertile males. A total of 120 subjects were recruited for the study which included 70 infertile males and 50 males of proven fertility as controls. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant status (TAS) were measured in the seminal fluid by spectrophotometric methods. Semen analysis was performed on the sample according to the World Health Organization criteria. The lipid peroxidation index was calculated as the ratio of MDA and TAS. The mean levels of measured sperm indices, MDA and TAS were compared between infertile and fertile subjects using students-t-test. The sperm count, the total motility and percentage morphology were significantly lower (p˂0.001) in the infertile males compared with the controls. The mean level of MDA was significantly higher (p˂0.001) while TAS was significantly lower (p<0.001) in infertile males than controls. The lipid peroxidation index was higher in oligospermic male subjects than control and correlates negatively with sperm count(r=-0.321;p<0.01), progressive motility(r=-0.292;p<0.02), percent morphology(r=-0.238;p<0.05). Lipid peroxidation index may be easy and better predictor of oxidative stress in oligospermia.