Seminal Plasma Proteomic Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress.

Rossella Cannarella,Federica Barbagallo,Andrea Crafa,Sandro La Vignera,Antonio Aversa,Rosita A Condorelli,Aldo E Calogero,Laura M Mongioì

doi:10.3390/ijms21239113

Rossella Cannarella, Federica Barbagallo + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21239113

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Abstract

The prevalence of idiopathic male infertility is high, up to 75% of patients with abnormal sperm parameters. Hence, the research of its causes is mandatory. Oxidative stress (OS) can be responsible for male infertility in 30–80% of cases. In recent years, seminal plasma (SP) proteomics has developed as a useful tool to provide biomarkers of specific diseases. This systematic review aims to collect the available evidence on the changes of SP proteome in patients exposed to OS to provide possible SP biomarkers of sperm OS. To accomplish this, the following keyterms “seminal fluid proteome”, “seminal plasma proteome”, “oxidative stress”, and “sperm oxidative stress” were used and 137 records were found. Among these, 17 were finally included. Nine proteins involved with OS were found overexpressed in patients with OS. Twenty-three proteins were found differentially expressed in patients with clinical conditions associated with OS, such as varicocele, male accessory gland infection/inflammation, cigarette smoke, and obesity. These proteins do not seem to overlap among the clinical conditions taken into account. We speculate that specific SP proteins may mediate OS in different clinical conditions. Altogether, these results suggest that proteomics could help to better understand some of the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of infertility. However, further studies are needed to identify potential biomarkers of male infertility with valuable clinical significance.

Highlights

Infertility is a widespread condition in Western Countries
Seventeen articles were included [22,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41]. These articles were classified into those investigating seminal plasma (SP) proteome in patients with an increased Oxidative stress (OS) [22,26,27,34,37,41] and thoseinvestigating SP proteome in patientswith diseasestypicallyassociated with increased OS (e.g., varicocele, male accessoryglandinfection/inflammation (MAGI), smoke, obesity) [28,29,30,31,32,33,35,36,38,39,40]
This study showed that smoking further alters the SP proteome and worsens the OS-induced damage, as proven by the exclusive expression in smoking patients of proteins involved in the inflammatory response and neutralization of free radicals, such as extracellular superoxide dismutase (SODE) [35]

Summary

Introduction

Infertility is a widespread condition in Western Countries. It is defined as the failure to achieve full-term pregnancy after up to 2-year-long unprotected sexual intercourse (WHO, 1983) [1]. Approximately 15% of couples of childbearing age are infertile [2]. A male factor is responsible for couple infertility in about half of the cases [2]. Some cohort studies have reported that the cause of male infertility remains elusive in up to 75% of the patients with abnormal sperm parameters [3,4]. The search of the causes is, of paramount importance to plan a targeted therapy [5]

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