Laboratory of Human Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Avenue Majida Boulila, 3029, Sfax, Tunisia.
Laboratory of Treatment and Valorization of Water Rejects (LTVRH), Water Researches and Technologies Center (CERTE), University of Carthage, Tourist Route Soliman, BP, 273-8020, Tunisia; Toxicology, Environmental Microbiology and Health Research Laboratory (LR17ES06), Department of Life Sciences. Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
J Gynecol Obstet Hum Reprod. 2021 May;50(5):102101. doi: 10.1016/j.jogoh.2021.102101. Epub 2021 Feb 22.
The association of leukocytospermia with male fertility is still under debate. Our objective was to evaluate the association of leukocytospermia with sperm parameters, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variations, and seminal concentration of several oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines in Tunisian infertile men. The studied patients were divided into two groups: patients without leukocytospermia (Group 1) and patients with leukocytospermia (Group 2). DNA fragmentation significantly increased in group 2 (31.41 %) compared to group 1 (14.68 %) ; (p < 0.001). A total of 115 nucleotide substitutions in mitochondrial DNA were depicted, among which 113 were previously identified. The number of substitutions was more elevated in group 2. Leukocytospermic group had significantly higher MDA (nmole/mL) levels than patients without leukocytospermia (34±24.43 vs 18.94±15.96 ; p=0.001), GSH (μg/mL) levels were also higher compared to the control group (126.53±22.87 vs 79.4±19.38 ; p < 0.001), SOD (U/mg of protein) levels were higher but without reaching the statistical significance (89.74±74.85 vs 67.56±37.11 ; p = 0.25) ; whereas seminal CAT (μmole HO/min/mg of protein) levels were lower in this group (10.66±14.32 vs 27.35±25.28 ; p = 0.012). No statistically significant differences between the two groups of patients were found in the levels of inflammatory cytokines. However, IL-8 level was positively correlated with DNA fragmentation and negatively correlated with vitality. These findings confirm the association between leukocytospermia and sperm DNA damage.
白细胞精子症与男性生育力的关系仍存在争议。我们的目的是评估白细胞精子症与精子参数、线粒体 DNA（mtDNA）变异以及几种氧化应激和炎症细胞因子在突尼斯不育男性中的精液浓度之间的关系。研究患者分为两组：无白细胞精子症患者（第 1 组）和白细胞精子症患者（第 2 组）。与第 1 组（14.68%）相比，第 2 组的 DNA 碎片化显著增加（31.41%）；（p < 0.001）。共描绘了线粒体 DNA 中的 115 个核苷酸取代，其中 113 个是先前鉴定的。第 2 组中的取代数量更高。白细胞精子症组的 MDA（nmole/mL）水平明显高于无白细胞精子症患者（34±24.43 与 18.94±15.96；p=0.001），GSH（μg/mL）水平也高于对照组（126.53±22.87 与 79.4±19.38；p < 0.001），SOD（U/mg 蛋白）水平较高但无统计学意义（89.74±74.85 与 67.56±37.11；p = 0.25）；而该组的 CAT（μmole HO/min/mg 蛋白）水平较低（10.66±14.32 与 27.35±25.28；p = 0.012）。两组患者的炎症细胞因子水平无统计学差异。然而，IL-8 水平与 DNA 碎片化呈正相关，与活力呈负相关。这些发现证实了白细胞精子症与精子 DNA 损伤之间的关系。
