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Total antioxidant capacity in patients with varicoceles
Elisabetta Meucci1, Domenico Milardi, Alvaro Mordente
1Institute of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
Objective:
To explore a possible molecular defect linked to infertility, studying total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of seminal plasma in varicocele (VAR).
Design:
Case-series study.
Settings:
Volunteers in an academic research environment and out-patients in clinical service.
Patient(S):
Twenty-five VAR patients (9 oligospermic and 16 normospermic) vs 24 non-VAR controls (7 subjects with idiopathic oligospermia and 17 normospermic subjects).
Intervention(S):
Evaluation of seminal plasma TAC.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
TAC was measured using myoglobin, as a source of radicals, which interact with a chromogen 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS), whose radical cation is spectroscopically detectable. The latency phase (Lag) in the accumulation of ABTS cation is proportional to antioxidant concentration.
Result(S):
Lag showed significantly greater values in the all VAR patients vs non-VAR subjects. Oligospermic-VAR patients showed the greatest values. Lag and sperm motility significantly correlated in VAR normospermic patients. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) showed significant inverse association with Lag in same group.
Conclusion(S):
The augmented Lag values could indicate an ineffective utilization of antioxidants in oligospermic-VAR, while in normo-VAR the direct correlation between TAC and motility suggest a potential protective role toward sperm motility. In the same group, the inverse correlation with FSH suggests that greater FSH levels induce a better utilization of antioxidants by spermatozoa.