Abstract
ObjectiveThis prospective study was designed to investigate the relationship between lipids levels in both serum and seminal plasma and semen parameters.Methods631 subfertile men were enrolled. Their obesity-associated markers were measured, and semen parameters were analyzed. Also, seminal plasma and serum TC, TG, HDL and LDL and serum FFA, FSH, LH, total testosterone (TT), estradiol (E2) and SHBG levels were detected.ResultsSeminal plasma and serum TG, TC and LDL levels were positively related to age. Serum TC, TG and LDL were positively related to obesity-associated markers (P < 0.001), while only seminal plasma TG was positively related to them (P < 0.05). For lipids levels in serum and seminal plasma, only TG level had slightly positive correlation between them (r = 0.081, P = 0.042). There was no significant correlation between serum lipids levels and semen parameters. However, seminal plasma TG, TC, LDL and HDL levels were negatively related to one or several semen parameters, including semen volume (SV), sperm concentration (SC), total sperm count (TSC), sperm motility, progressive motility (PR) and total normal-progressively motile sperm counts (TNPMS). Moreover, seminal plasma TG, TC, LDL and HDL levels in patients with oligospermatism, asthenospermia and teratozoospermia were higher than those with normal sperm concentration, motility or morphology. After adjusting age and serum LH, FSH, TT, E2 and SHBG levels, linear regression analysis showed that SV was still significantly correlated with seminal plasma LDL (P = 0.012), both of SC and TSC with seminal plasma HDL (P = 0.028 and 0.002), and both of PR and sperm motility with seminal plasma TC (P = 0.012 and 0.051).ConclusionThe abnormal metabolism of lipids in male reproductive system may contribute to male factor infertility.
Highlights
Numerous studies indicated that obesity is closely associated with higher prevelence of male factor infertility [1,2,3,4]
SC, sperm concentration; TSC, total sperm count; PR, progressive motility; MOT, sperm motility; NSM, normal sperm morphology; total normalprogressively motile sperm counts (TNPMS), total normalprogressively motile sperm count; SP, seminal plasma. a, P 0.001 b, P 0.05 Serum TG, total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were positively related to age
In order to avoid the interaction of these factors on semen parameters, especially the effects of age and reproductive hormones on semen parameters, we further analyzed the effects of these factors on each of semen parameters after adjusting age and serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), TT, E2 and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels by linear regression, and the results showed that semen volume was significantly correlated with seminal plasma LDL (t = -2.528, P = 0.012) and serum TG (t = -2.008, P = 0.045), both of sperm concentration and total sperm count with seminal plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL)
Summary
Numerous studies indicated that obesity is closely associated with higher prevelence of male factor infertility [1,2,3,4]. Abnormal lipid metabolism was closely associated with the disorder of spermatogenesis, sperm maturation and capacitation [7,8,9]. Lu et al [10] previously showed that obesity-associated markers such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) could not predict semen quality. It was unclear whether lipids levels in serum and seminal plasma reflect semen quality. We designed this study to investigate the correlations between lipids levels, including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and free fatty acid (FFA), in serum and seminal plasma, and obesity-associated markers such as BMI, WC, WHR and WHtR, and between lipids levels in serum and seminal plasma and semen parameters in 631 subfertile men
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