[Correlation of reproductive hormone levels and seminal plasma oxidative stress with semen quality in obese males].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation of the levels of reproductive hormones and oxidative stress in the seminal plasma with semen parameters in obese males. METHODS: Based on the body mass index (BMI), we divided 138 infertile men into three groups: normal (BMI <24 kg/m2, n = 48), overweight (24 kg/m2≤BMI<28 kg/m2, n = 47), and obesity (BMI ≥28 kg/m2, n = 43). We determined the concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteotropic hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), testosterone (T) and estradiol (E2) in the serum by electrochemiluminescence and measured the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the seminal plasma by ELISA, compared the above indexes among the three groups, and analyzed their correlation with the semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, and percentage of progressively motile sperm (PMS). RESULTS: The semen volume was significantly lower in the obesity than in the normal group (ï¼»2.63 ± 0.74ï¼½ vs ï¼»3.37 ± 1.00ï¼½ ml, P < 0.05), and so was the percentage of PMS in the overweight and even lower in the obesity than in the normal group (ï¼»47.91 ± 12.89ï¼½ and ï¼»41.27 ± 15.77ï¼½ vs ï¼»54.04 ± 13.29ï¼½%, P < 0.05). Compared with the normal group, both the overweight and obesity groups showed markedly decreased levels of serum T (ï¼»4.83 ± 1.42ï¼½ vs ï¼»3.71 ± 1.22ï¼½ and ï¼»3.49 ± 1.12ï¼½ ng/ml, P<0.05), T/LH ratio (1.53 ± 0.57 vs 1.19 ± 0.54 and 0.97 ± 0.51, P<0.05), SOD (ï¼»112.05 ± 10.54ï¼½ vs ï¼»105.85 ± 6.93ï¼½ and ï¼»99.33 ± 8.39ï¼½ U/ml, P<0.05), and GSTs (ï¼»31.75±6.03ï¼½ vs ï¼»29.54±5.78ï¼½ and ï¼»29.02±4.52ï¼½ U/L, P<0.05), but remarkably increased seminal plasma ROS (ï¼»549.93±82.41ï¼½ vs ï¼»620.61±96.13ï¼½ and ï¼»701.47±110.60ï¼½ IU/ml, P<0.05) and MDA (ï¼»7.46 ± 2.13ï¼½ vs ï¼»8.72 ± 1.89ï¼½ and ï¼»10.47 ± 2.10ï¼½ nmol/L, P<0.05). BMI was correlated positively with ROS and MDA, but negatively with the semen volume, PMS, T, T/LH, SOD and GSTs (P<0.05); LH negatively with sperm concentration, total sperm count and GSTs (P<0.05); PRL negatively GSTs (P<0.05); E2 positively with SOD (P<0.05); T positively with SOD (P<0.05) but negatively with MDA (P<0.05); T/LH positively with PMS and SOD (P<0.05) but negatively with ROS and MDA (P<0.05); SOD positively with semen volume, PMS and GSTs (P<0.05) but negatively with ROS and MDA (P<0.05); GSTs negatively with sperm concentration; total sperm count and MDA (P<0.05); ROS positively with MDA (P<0.01) but negatively with PMS (P<0.05); and MDA negatively with semen volume (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the independent factors influencing the semen volume were BMI and GSTs, those influencing the total sperm count were BMI and T, and those influencing PMS were BMI and MDA. CONCLUSIONS: Increased BMI induces changes in the levels of male reproductive hormones and seminal plasma oxidative stress and affects semen quality, which may be associated with male infertility.