Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Hospital São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Andrology. 2019 Jan;7(1):53-61. doi: 10.1111/andr.12555. Epub 2018 Oct 24.
Cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRISP-3), a protein involved in inflammatory response, is highly increased in seminal plasma of adolescents with varicocoele and altered semen analysis, but not in adolescents with varicocoele and normal semen. It is not known, however, whether this increased seminal concentration occurs as an acute marker during the initial stages of varicocoele or whether this persists as an altered protein pathway.
The purpose of this study, thus, was to test the hypothesis that this inflammatory state persists through adulthood and the correction of varicocoele could correct this state, by identifying the levels of CRISP-3 in seminal plasma.
This study was carried out in two substudies: (i) to verify the effect of varicocoele and (ii) to verify the effect of varicocelectomy on seminal plasma CRISP-3 levels. Seminal plasma CRISP-3 levels (29 and 31 kDa isoforms) were assessed for each provided sample using standard Western blotting.
The varicocoele group presented higher seminal levels of CRISP-3 when compared to controls, with a 67.5-fold increase in the unglycosylated isoform (29 kDa) and a 5.2-fold increase in the glycosylated isoform (31 kDa). In contrast, CRISP-3 levels decreased following varicocelectomy, both in the unglycosylated (5.6-fold decrease) and in the glycosylated (4.3-fold decrease) isoforms.
CRISP-3, a protein involved in inflammation, is increased in seminal plasma of men with varicocoele and this is partially reversed by varicocelectomy. Monitoring its seminal levels may be useful for assessing inflammation-related alterations to fertility in men with varicocoele.
We conclude that, in the presence of varicocoele, there is a marked increase in seminal CRISP-3 levels. Surgical intervention (varicocelectomy) decreases CRISP-3 levels and improves semen quality.
富含半胱氨酸的分泌蛋白（CRISP-3）是一种参与炎症反应的蛋白质，在精索静脉曲张和精液分析改变的青少年的精液中高度增加，但在精索静脉曲张和正常精液的青少年中没有增加。然而，尚不清楚这种增加的精液浓度是否作为精索静脉曲张初始阶段的急性标志物发生，或者这种蛋白途径的改变是否持续存在。
因此，本研究旨在通过鉴定精液中 CRISP-3 的水平，检验这样一个假设，即这种炎症状态持续到成年期，并且精索静脉曲张的纠正可以纠正这种状态。
本研究分为两个子研究进行：（i）验证精索静脉曲张的作用；（ii）验证精索静脉结扎术对精液 CRISP-3 水平的影响。使用标准 Western blot 法评估每个提供样本的精液中 CRISP-3 的水平。
精索静脉曲张组的精液 CRISP-3 水平明显高于对照组，未糖基化同工型（29 kDa）增加 67.5 倍，糖基化同工型（31 kDa）增加 5.2 倍。相比之下，精索静脉结扎术后 CRISP-3 水平下降，未糖基化（5.6 倍下降）和糖基化（4.3 倍下降）同工型均下降。
CRISP-3 是一种参与炎症的蛋白质，在精索静脉曲张男性的精液中增加，精索静脉结扎术部分逆转了这种情况。监测其精液水平可能有助于评估精索静脉曲张男性与炎症相关的生育能力改变。
我们的结论是，在精索静脉曲张存在的情况下，精液 CRISP-3 水平明显增加。手术干预（精索静脉结扎术）可降低 CRISP-3 水平并改善精液质量。
