Chen S-J, Duan Y-G, Haidl G, Allam J-P
Department of Dermatology/Andrology Unit, Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelm University, Bonn, Germany.
Andrologia. 2016 Aug;48(6):617-25. doi: 10.1111/and.12487. Epub 2015 Sep 29.
Chronic testicular inflammation and infection have been regarded as important factors in the pathogenesis of azoospermia. As key effector cells in innate and adaptive immune system, mast cells (MCs) were observed in inflammation and autoimmune disease. Furthermore, increased expression of tryptase-positive MCs has been reported in testicular disorders associated with male infertility/subfertility. However, little is known about the potential relationship between MCs and chronic testicular inflammation in azoospermic patients. Moreover, the preferential expression of MCs' subtypes in testis of these patients is still far from being understood. Thus, this study aimed to investigate characteristics of testicular MCs as well as their subtypes in azoospermic men with chronic testicular inflammation (AZI, n = 5) by immunohistochemical techniques. Our results showed significant increase of MCs in AZI, and more importantly, considerable numbers of tryptase-positive/chymase-positive MCs could also be demonstrated in AZI, when compared to control groups representing azoospermia without chronic testicular inflammation (AZW, n = 5) and normal spermatogenesis (NT, n = 5) respectively. Most interestingly, immunofluorescence staining revealed autoimmune-associated interleukin (IL)-17-producing MCs in AZI, whereas co-expression of MC markers with tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-10 and IL-1β could not be detected. In conclusion, AZI is associated with significant increase of tryptase-positive/chymase-positive MCs expressing IL-17, and these MCs might contribute to the pathogenesis of AZI.
慢性睾丸炎症和感染被认为是无精子症发病机制中的重要因素。作为固有免疫系统和适应性免疫系统中的关键效应细胞，肥大细胞（MCs）在炎症和自身免疫性疾病中被观察到。此外，在与男性不育/亚不育相关的睾丸疾病中，已报道色氨酸酶阳性MCs的表达增加。然而，关于MCs与无精子症患者慢性睾丸炎症之间的潜在关系知之甚少。此外，这些患者睾丸中MCs亚型的优先表达仍远未被了解。因此，本研究旨在通过免疫组织化学技术研究慢性睾丸炎症无精子症男性（AZI，n = 5）睾丸MCs及其亚型的特征。我们的结果显示，与分别代表无慢性睾丸炎症的无精子症（AZW，n = 5）和正常精子发生（NT，n = 5）的对照组相比，AZI中MCs显著增加，更重要的是，在AZI中也可证实有相当数量的色氨酸酶阳性/糜蛋白酶阳性MCs。最有趣的是，免疫荧光染色显示AZI中有产生自身免疫相关白细胞介素（IL）-17的MCs，而未检测到MC标志物与肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）-α、IL-10和IL-1β的共表达。总之，AZI与表达IL-17的色氨酸酶阳性/糜蛋白酶阳性MCs显著增加有关，这些MCs可能促成了AZI的发病机制。
