Department of Urology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Department of Urology, Kidney and Urology Center, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China.
Front Immunol. 2021 Feb 23;12:629680. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.629680. eCollection 2021.
Chronic inflammation of the male genital tract is thought to be a primary etiological factor of male infertility. The abundance and activation of macrophages and dendritic cells in patients with chronic inflammation of genital tract were closely associated with oligozoospermia and asthenospermia. Chronic epididymitis appears to be more important than seminal vesiculitis or prostatitis due to the direct interaction between spermatozoa and epididymal inflammatory cells. In this study, we present a case report of a 41-year-old male with oligoasthenospermia and chronic epididymitis. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunofluorescence analyses showed that antigen presenting cells including macrophages and dendritic cells were found capturing spermatozoa in the lumen of cauda epididymis. To our knowledge, this is the first case report that directly observed dendritic cells capturing spermatozoa in the lumen of an inflamed epididymis. This finding directly explains chronic epididymitis as the possible cause of oligospermia in patients.
男性生殖道的慢性炎症被认为是男性不育的主要病因。患有生殖道慢性炎症的患者的巨噬细胞和树突状细胞的丰度和激活与少精子症和弱精子症密切相关。慢性附睾炎似乎比精囊炎或前列腺炎更为重要，因为精子与附睾炎性细胞之间存在直接相互作用。在本研究中，我们报告了一例 41 岁少弱精子症伴慢性附睾炎患者。苏木精-伊红染色和免疫荧光分析显示，包括巨噬细胞和树突状细胞在内的抗原呈递细胞在附睾尾部管腔中发现捕获精子。据我们所知，这是首例直接观察到树突状细胞在发炎的附睾管腔中捕获精子的病例报告。这一发现直接解释了慢性附睾炎是导致患者少精子症的可能原因。
