Objective: To investigate the relationship of seminal plasma elastase (SPE) with sperm reactive oxygen species (ROS) and semen parameters in infertile men.
Methods: Between July 2021 and December 2021, a total of 145 subjects aged 20-51 years with male infertility were enrolled. SPE, seminal leukocytes, sperm ROS, DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and other semen parameters were detected. We divided patients into an inflammation group (SPE ≥ 290 ng/ml, n = 48) and a non-inflammation group (SPE < 290 ng/ml, n = 97), analyzed the relationship of SPE with seminal leukocytes, sperm ROS, semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm motility, the percentages of progressively motile sperm (PMS) , morphologically normal sperm (MNS), and DFI.
Results: The concentration of seminal leukocytes, sperm ROS level and DFI were significantly higher in inflammation group than in non-inflammation group (P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed in semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm motility, PMS, MNS or sperm deformity index (SDI) between two groups of patients (P > 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the SPE level was correlated positively with the concentration of seminal leukocytes (r = 0.658, P < 0.01), sperm ROS level (r = 0.229, P = 0.006) and DFI (r = 0.192, P = 0.021), but not correlated with semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm motility, PMS, MNS or SDI (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The level of seminal plasma elastase is related with the concentration of seminal leukocytes, sperm ROS level and DFI, and has some reference value in the diagnosis of male infertility.
Keywords: male infertility; sperm; seminal plasma elastase; leukocyte; reactive oxygen species; DNA fragmentation index.