Seminal carnitine concentration in obstructive azoospermia

Seminal carnitine levels were studied in 67 patients with obstructive azoospermia. In 25 patients a bilateral vasectomy had been performed previously and for refertilization a vasovasostomy was performed. In the remaining 42 men the occlusion was located within the epididymis. In postvasectomy cases and when the occlusion was located in the cauda epididymidis, carnitine concentrations were low with mean values of 114.57 and 122.44 mumol/l respectively. When the occlusion was in the region of the corpus the mean value of seminal carnitine increased to 192.56 mumol/l, and when the occlusion was found in the caput or the rete testis the mean value amounted to 417.20 mumol/l (normal mean levels of carnitine in normospermic patients 440-990 mumol/l). After successful vasovasostomy, free carnitine levels returned to the normal range of 510.82 mumol/l. These results indicate a highly significant correlation between seminal carnitine concentrations and the anatomic site of occlusion of the epididymis.