Heshmat Samy M, Mullen J Brendan, Jarvi Keith A, Soosaipillai Antoninus, Diamandis Eleftherios P, Hamilton Robert J, Lo Kirk C
Department of Surgery (Division of Urology), Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
J Urol. 2008 Mar;179(3):1077-80. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2007.10.070. Epub 2008 Jan 18.
We examined the relationship between L-PGDS (lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase) levels in seminal plasma and the presence or absence of obstruction in the male seminal tract.
Semen samples were collected and analyzed from 1) 10 patients with normal semen parameters, 2) 9 with obstructive azoospermia, 3) 20 after vasectomy and 4) 14 with nonobstructive azoospermia. Seminal L-PGDS was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique.
We found that seminal plasma L-PGDS in the groups with obstruction was significantly lower than in any of the other groups (p <0.001). Using a cutoff of 100 microg/l all men with obstructive azoospermia had L-PGDS less than 100 microg/l, while none with normal sperm parameters did. Men with nonobstructive azoospermia had less homogeneity of L-PGDS levels, including 29.6% with L-PGDS more than 100 microg/l.
Our results suggest that seminal L-PGDS level can potentially be a biomarker for assessing patency in the seminal tract in men with azoospermia. In men with azoospermia and high seminal L-PGDS (more than 100 microg/l) the diagnosis of nonobstructive azoospermia can be potentially made without biopsy. Our study shows that using semen L-PGDS levels provides a diagnosis of nonobstructive azoospermia in almost 30% of these men.
我们研究了精浆中L - PGDS（脂质运载蛋白型前列腺素D合成酶）水平与男性生殖道梗阻与否之间的关系。
收集并分析了以下几组的精液样本：1）10名精液参数正常的患者；2）9名梗阻性无精子症患者；3）20名输精管结扎术后患者；4）14名非梗阻性无精子症患者。采用酶联免疫吸附测定技术检测精浆中的L - PGDS。
我们发现梗阻组的精浆L - PGDS水平显著低于其他任何一组（p <0.001）。以100微克/升为临界值，所有梗阻性无精子症男性的L - PGDS均低于100微克/升，而精液参数正常的男性均无此情况。非梗阻性无精子症男性的L - PGDS水平同质性较差，其中29.6%的患者L - PGDS高于100微克/升。
我们的结果表明，精浆L - PGDS水平有可能成为评估无精子症男性生殖道通畅情况的生物标志物。对于无精子症且精浆L - PGDS水平较高（超过100微克/升）的男性，有可能在不进行活检的情况下诊断为非梗阻性无精子症。我们的研究表明，利用精液L - PGDS水平可对近30%的此类男性诊断为非梗阻性无精子症。
