Unaltered protein pattern/genital tract secretion marker levels in seminal plasma of highly viscous human ejaculates

SDS-PAGE (12.5%) analysis and neutral alpha-glucosidase, fructose, and zinc level assessment were carried out in seminal plasma of 20 patients with highly viscous ejaculates and of 20 control subjects, with the aim to investigate the relations between high consistency of semen and epididymal, vesicular, and prostatic secretions. Very low sperm motility was observed in all the patients' ejaculates, both normo- and oligozoospermics. Protein patterns obtained in control and highly viscous semina showed similar protein bands, in the range of 10-100 kD. Furthermore, unaltered seminal neutral alpha-glucosidase, zinc, and fructose level were measured in the same specimens. These results indicated no impairment of epididymal, vesicular, and prostatic function in patients with hyperviscous semina, while their normal electrophoretic seminal protein profile suggested unaltered genital fluid interactions during the semen coagulation-liquefaction process.