Center for Reproduction and Genetics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, SuZhou, Jiangsu, China.
Biomedical Research Institute, Soochow University, SuZhou, Jiangsu, China.
Am J Mens Health. 2020 Sep-Oct;14(5):1557988320970053. doi: 10.1177/1557988320970053.
Reproductive tract inflammation is considered an important cause of male infertility. Increased leukocytes in semen can produce many reactive oxygen species (ROS), which affect sperm function. The aim of this study is to identify the main source of ROS in seminal plasma and to assess the effect of ROS on leukocytes. Semen samples ( = 20) with leukocyte concentration >1 × 10 were collected from a male infertility clinic. This study mainly compares the sperm function parameters of the normal group and the semen white blood cell group >1 × 10. The results identified that ROS in semen was closely related to sperm function parameters, and CD45 leucocytes were the main source of ROS. Compared with the control group, the concentration of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IFN-γ, and TNF-α was higher in the experimental group. Leukocytes in semen may regulate the secretion of ROS through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. A considerable amount of ROS can upregulate the expression of IL-6 in leukocytes via the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kB) pathway.
生殖道炎症被认为是男性不育的一个重要原因。精液中白细胞增多会产生许多活性氧（ROS），从而影响精子功能。本研究旨在确定精液中 ROS 的主要来源，并评估 ROS 对白细胞的影响。从男性不育诊所收集白细胞浓度 >1×10 的精液样本（n=20）。本研究主要比较了正常组和白细胞 >1×10 的精液组的精子功能参数。结果表明，精液中的 ROS 与精子功能参数密切相关，CD45 白细胞是 ROS 的主要来源。与对照组相比，实验组的 IL-2、IL-4、IL-6、IFN-γ 和 TNF-α 浓度更高。精液中的白细胞可能通过哺乳动物雷帕霉素靶蛋白（mTOR）途径调节 ROS 的分泌。大量 ROS 可通过核因子 kappa-B（NF-kB）途径上调白细胞中 IL-6 的表达。
