Exchange of lipids between spermatozoa and seminal plasma in normal and pathological human semen

Normal and pathological semen were studied with regard to cholesterol and phospholipid content of sperm cells and seminal plasma. Spermatozoa from pathologic semen have similar concentrations of phospholipid-phosphorous and significantly higher cholesterol concentration than spermatozoa from normal semen. However, only oligoasthenospermic spermatozoa showed a significantly higher cholesterol/phospholipid ratio. Azoospermic seminal plasma showed the lowest values of both cholesterol and phospholipids, but the ratio of cholesterol to phospholipids was equal to that in normal spermatozoa. No significant difference was found in the cholesterol concentration of seminal plasma from oligoasthenospermic, asthenospermic, and normospermic subjects and only asthenospermic plasma showed a significantly lower concentration of this compound. Cholesterol and phospholipid exchange between sperm cells and seminal plasma was shown by the striking correlation between the lipid composition of seminal plasma with that of sperm cells.