Oxidative stress adversely affects spermatogenesis in male infertility

Oxidative stress is one of the factors which affects fertility potential of spermatozoa by lipid peroxidation which may lead to sperm dysfunction. Sperm count and sperm motil-ity are prime parameters that determine the functional ability of spermatozoa. The present study was aimed to study adverse effect of oxidant on spermatogenesis in idiopathic male in-fertility. The study includes total 60 subjects, Normospermic (n=30) and Oligoastheno-spermic (n=30). Seminal plasma malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, zinc and SOD were esti-mated by spectrophotometric methods and correlated with sperm count and sperm motility. Seminal levels of malondialdehyde and nitric oxide were significantly higher (p<0.001) while zinc and SOD were significantly lower (p<0.001) in oligoasthenospermic than normospermic men. There was significant negative correlation between malondialdehyde and nitric oxide with sperm count and motility in oligoasthenospermia. The increase in seminal malondial-dehyde, nitric oxide and decrease in zinc and superoxide dismutase levels in oligoastheno-spermia may be responsible for disruption in the membrane integrity of spermatozoa and have role in reduction of sperm DNA integrity and DNA damage. The positive correlation of zinc with sperm count and sperm motility indicates an important role of zinc in spermato-genesis. Thus these parameters could be useful for determining sperm fertilization potential further in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of male infertility especially in idiopathic male infertility