Subedi Rambhadur, Rokade Sushama, Surve Suchitra, Patil Anushree, Kulkarni Vijay, Gajbhiye Rahul K, Madan Taruna
Department of Innate Immunity, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, Mumbai, India.
Department of Clinical Research, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, Mumbai, India.
Am J Reprod Immunol. 2023 Feb;89(2):e13588. doi: 10.1111/aji.13588. Epub 2022 Jul 8.
Surfactant protein D (SP-D), a multimeric collectin expressed by testicular mucosal epithelia and is positively regulated by testosterone. It exerts antimicrobial effects, modulates inflammation and rescued spermatogenesis in a murine model. Various cytokines and chemokines, including MCP-1, play a key role in regulating the inflammation in rat and human testis. The study aimed to investigate the role of SP-D and involvement of chemokines and cytokines in the male infertility associated with urogenital infections or inflammation.
The cross-sectional study evaluated levels of SP-D, testosterone, estradiol and the cytokines/chemokines including MCP-1 in the serum and semen samples of fertile and infertile Indian men with and without urogenital infections/inflammation (n = 76).
Both fertile and infertile males with urogenital infection/inflammation had significantly lower levels of SP-D and higher levels of the chemokine, Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) in the serum and seminal plasma. Seminal plasma of these males exhibited significantly higher proportion of proteolytically degraded forms of SP-D. The serum SP-D levels positively correlated with testosterone/estradiol (TE) ratio. There was no significant correlation between the SP-D levels in seminal plasma and sperm count/motility. With a significant area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves, the serum and seminal plasma SP-D levels exhibited significant potential to predict infertility with high sensitivity and specificity in men with genital infections/inflammation.
The circulating and seminal plasma SP-D levels were decreased in men with urogenital infection and inflammation. This could be due to their engagement at the site of infection, dysregulated expression owing to the altered hormonal profile and increased proteolytic degradation.
表面活性蛋白D（SP-D）是一种由睾丸黏膜上皮表达的多聚体凝集素，受睾酮正向调节。它具有抗菌作用，可调节炎症，并在小鼠模型中挽救精子发生。包括单核细胞趋化蛋白-1（MCP-1）在内的多种细胞因子和趋化因子在调节大鼠和人类睾丸炎症中起关键作用。本研究旨在探讨SP-D的作用以及趋化因子和细胞因子在与泌尿生殖系统感染或炎症相关的男性不育中的作用。
这项横断面研究评估了患有和未患有泌尿生殖系统感染/炎症的印度生育期和不育男性（n = 76）血清和精液样本中SP-D、睾酮、雌二醇以及包括MCP-1在内的细胞因子/趋化因子的水平。
患有泌尿生殖系统感染/炎症的生育期和不育男性血清和精浆中的SP-D水平均显著降低，趋化因子单核细胞趋化蛋白1（MCP-1）水平升高。这些男性的精浆中SP-D的蛋白水解降解形式比例显著更高。血清SP-D水平与睾酮/雌二醇（TE）比值呈正相关。精浆中SP-D水平与精子计数/活力之间无显著相关性。血清和精浆SP-D水平在受试者工作特征曲线下面积显著，在患有生殖器感染/炎症的男性中具有以高敏感性和特异性预测不育的显著潜力。
患有泌尿生殖系统感染和炎症的男性循环血和精浆中的SP-D水平降低。这可能是由于它们在感染部位被消耗、激素谱改变导致表达失调以及蛋白水解降解增加所致。
