Abstract
Abstract Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate serum ghrelin and orexin levels in patients with varicocele and compare these levels with idiopathic infertile male and healthy control cases. Methods This study enrolled 24 men with varicocele, 24 males having idiopathic infertility, and 21 fertile men as the control group. Hormonal analyses, ghrelin and orexin levels were measured samples. Semen was analyzed after 3 and 5 days of sexual abstinence. Results Serum ghrelin levels were statistically different among the three groups (p=0.015), and it was due to a statistically lower level in group-1 than the level in the control cases (p=0.012). On the other hand, serum orexin levels were lower than healthy subjects in infertile groups with/without varicocele, but there was no difference (p=0.685) among three groups. Serum ghrelin level showed a negative and significant correlation only with sperm motility (r=−0.646, p=0.022), there was no correlation with other parameters. On the other hand, serum orexin levels did not show a significant correlation with seminal parameters. Conclusion Both new investigated peptides ghrelin and orexin have regulatory effects on testicular function. However, ghrelin has a more obvious and complex effect on spermatogenesis. Impaired seminal parameters, especially motility was associated with increased serum ghrelin levels in infertile patients, especially with varicocele.
Highlights
Varicocele is the most common reason for surgically treated problems in infertile males
Especially motility was associated with increased serum ghrelin levels in infertile patients, especially with varicocele
The present study aimed to evaluate serum ghrelin and orexin levels in patients with varicocele and compare these levels with the ones observed in idiopathic infertile male and healthy control cases
Summary
Varicocele is the most common reason for surgically treated problems in infertile males. While it has been reported around 35–40% of infertile men, it is observed around 15% in healthy population and is reported around 14–20% in adolescent young boys [1]. Varicocele affect testicular spermatogenesis in testis with different pathophysiologic mechanisms. Because, 40–50% of patients that underwent surgical treatment, their sperm parameters didn’t improve after the operation. This likely suggests that autocrine and paracrine mediators except knowing mechanisms mentioned before might play an important role in the pathophysiology of varicocele [1, 4]
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