Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Andrologia. 2013 Oct;45(5):351-6. doi: 10.1111/and.12023. Epub 2012 Oct 3.
Spermatozoa are capable of producing small amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and sperm in teratozoospermia generate more ROS than sperm in normozoospermia. The source of ROS production in ejaculated human sperm has not been fully clarified. Recently, NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5) was detected in human sperm, and ROS generation by this enzyme was reported. We investigated the magnitude of NOX5 expression in normozoospermic (n = 12) and teratozoospermic (n = 13) semen samples with different percentages of abnormal sperm. The existence of NOX5 enzymes in sperm was analysed by immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry and correlated with morphological abnormalities. Immunofluorescent studies identified NOX5 in acrosomal, equatorial, post-acrosomal regions, the body and the tail of both normal and abnormal sperm. Teratozoospermic semen samples had higher percentages of NOX5-positive sperm and expressed more NOX5 (based on higher mean fluorescent intensity) than normal semen samples. Positive correlations were observed between abnormal sperm morphology and both the percentage of NOX5-positive sperm and the magnitude of NOX5 expression. Based on these findings, we can assume that there is a positive correlation between ROS generation in teratozoospermia and that in NOX5 expression.
精子能够产生少量的活性氧（ROS），畸形精子症患者的精子比正常形态精子症患者产生更多的 ROS。人类精子中 ROS 产生的来源尚未完全阐明。最近，在人类精子中检测到 NADPH 氧化酶 5（NOX5），并报道了该酶产生的 ROS。我们用不同比例异常精子的正常形态精子症（n = 12）和畸形精子症（n = 13）精液样本，调查了 NOX5 表达的程度。通过免疫细胞化学和流式细胞术分析精子中 NOX5 酶的存在，并与形态异常相关联。免疫荧光研究发现，NOX5 存在于顶体、赤道体、顶体后区、体部和尾部的正常和异常精子中。畸形精子症精液样本中 NOX5 阳性精子的百分比更高，NOX5 的表达也更高（基于更高的平均荧光强度），高于正常精液样本。异常精子形态与 NOX5 阳性精子的百分比和 NOX5 表达的程度之间存在正相关。基于这些发现，我们可以假设畸形精子症中的 ROS 生成与 NOX5 表达之间存在正相关。
