Objective: To study the association of the level of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) in seminal plasma with teratospermia and the outcome parameters of in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 272 male patients receiving assisted reproduction treatment in the Center for Reproductive Medicine of our hospital between October, 2018 and March, 2019. The levels of seminal AOPPs and reactive oxygen species (ROS), demographic data, sperm parameters and IVF outcome parameters were analyzed for all the patients. According to the percentage of sperms with normal morphology, the patients were divided before IVF into teratozoospermia group and normal sperm morphology group, and those in teratozoospermia group were further divided into 3 subgroups with mild, moderate and severe teratozoospermia. The patients were also divided on the day oocyte retrieval into 2 groups with fertilizing rates lower (group Ⅰ) and higher (group Ⅱ) than the median rate.
Results: We found a significant negative correlation of seminal AOPP level before treatment with the percentage of normal sperm morphology (P=0.003) and seminal ROS level (P=0.013). The seminal levels of AOPPs (P= 0.027) and ROS (P=0.036) were significantly elevated in patients with teratospermia, and seminal AOPP level was significantly higher in severe teratospermia group than in mild (P=0.019) and moderate (P=0.015) teratospermia groups. The seminal levels of AOPPs (P=0.003) and ROS (P=0.017) on the day of oocyte retrieval were negatively correlated with the fertilization rate in IVF cycles, and the levels of AOPPs (P=0.049) and ROS (P=0.036) were significantly higher in group Ⅰ than in group Ⅱ.
Conclusions: An elevated level of seminal AOPPs may indicate an increased risk of severe teratospermia and a lower fertilization rate in IVF.
目的: 研究精浆中晚期氧化蛋白产物（AOPPs）水平与畸精子症及体外受精（IVF）结局参数的关系。
方法: 采用横断面调查研究，收集我院生殖中心2018年10月~2019年3月接受辅助生殖治疗的272例男性精浆进行AOPPs和活性氧（ROS）水平检测，并统计人口学指标、精液参数和体外受精结局指标。按照精子正常形态百分比，将助孕前患者分为畸精子症组与正常精子形态组，再将畸精子症组分为轻、中、重度3个亚组。按照受精率中位数，将取卵日患者分为Ⅰ组（低于中位数组）与Ⅱ组（高于中位数组）。
结果: 助孕前精浆AOPPs（P=0.003）和ROS（P=0.013）水平与精子形态百分比呈显著负相关，畸精子症组精浆AOPPs（P= 0.027）和ROS（P=0.036）水平显著升高（P=0.027），其中重度畸精子症组AOPPs水平显著高于轻度（P=0.019）和中度组（P= 0.015）。取卵日精浆AOPPs（P=0.003）和ROS（P=0.017）水平与体外受精受精率呈显著负相关，Ⅰ组精浆AOPPs（P=0.049）和ROS（P=0.036）水平显著高于Ⅱ组。
结论: 精浆中AOPPs水平的异常升高可能预示着男性发生重度畸精子症及体外受精受精率低下的风险增高。
Keywords: advanced oxidation protein products; in vitro fertilization; teratospermia.