Objective: To compare the differences of expressions of adenylyl cyclase (AC) and phosphodiesterase (PDE) in ejaculated spermatozoa between healthy volunteers and the patients with asthenospermia.
Methods: Ejaculated spermatozoa were collected from healthy volunteers and the patients with asthenospermia. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect mRNA expression of AC and PDE subtypes in human spermatozoa. The concentrations of cAMP and cGMP in the samples were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Compared with healthy volunteers, expression of sAC mRNA and concentration of cAMP were significantly decreased in the patients with asthenospermia (P < 0.01) , while the expression of PDE4C mRNA was significantly increased at the same time (P <0.01). There were no marked differences in the expression of ACIII mRNA and concentration of cGMP between the two groups.
Conclusion: The sAC down-regulation and PDE4C up-regulation are possible reasons for asthenospermia.