Introduction: To investigate the relationship between the activity of neutral α-glucosidase in seminal plasma and semen quality. To explore the effect of secretory capability of the epididymis on male fertility.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of 542 men treated in the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility from February to December 2022, the semen parameters and neutral α-glucosidase were tested and compared among different groups. These 542 men included normozoospermia, oligospermia, asthenospermia and teratozoospermia.
Results: There was statistical difference in neutral alpha glucosidase (NAG) level among different groups with different sperm concentration, motility and morphology (P＜0.001). The NAG activity in seminal plasma was positively correlated with ejaculate volume and sperm concentration, meanwhile a very weak positive correlation was found between NAG level and sperm motility, sperm morphology, respectively.
Conclusions: Our results indicated that the secretion of NAG affected the volume, concentration, motility and morphology of sperm to a certain extent. Given that NAG is a specific and marker enzyme in epididymis, where is the site of sperm maturation, we can conclude that there is a close relationship between NAG and sperm quality. Therefore, seminal plasma NAG has a definite clinical value in helping diagnosis of male infertility.
S. Karger AG, Basel.