Relationship between seminal plasma cytokine levels and asthenozoospermia in infertile men

Abstract

Background. Violation of male fertility can have various causes, one of which is a decrease in sperm motility. In the pathogenesis of asthenozoospermia, some bioactive substances, in particular cytokines, may be involved.Aim. To estimate the number of the most studied cytokines to date in the ejaculate of infertile men with normozoospermia and patients with asthenozoospermia.Materials and methods. We examined 38 infertile patients with normozoospermia and 10 men with asthenozoospermia, comparable in age. All participants in the study were performed a spermogram and an analysis to determine the amount of the cytokines in seminal plasma, such as interleukins 1β, 2, 4–8, 10, 12, 13, 17, G-CSF, GM-CSF, interferon γ, MCP-1, MIP-1β and tumor necrosis factor α. Then, using nonparametric statistics, the relationship between the level of the above cytokines and the presence of asthenozoospermia was analyzed.Results. As a result, we were able to find out that there is a relationship between the concentration of interleukin 6, interleukin 8 and MIP-1β and sperm motility.Conclusion. Further research is needed to assess whether these bioactive inflammatory mediators have potential relevance for use as targets in the treatment of male infertility.