BackgroundSeveral factors have been shown to influence semen parameters, one of which is sexual abstinence; a clinical criteria included in the semen evaluation to provide maximum sperm quality. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of a daily ejaculation frequency on conventional and functional semen parameters.MethodsSemen samples were collected daily over a period of two weeks of which every second sample per person was processed and analyzed according to the World Health Organization guidelines. Furthermore, mitochondrial function, intracellular reactive oxygen species production and sperm DNA fragmentation were evaluated by flow cytometry.ResultsTotal sperm count and seminal volume per ejaculation declined and remained decreased for the duration of the daily ejaculation period. However, conventional parameters such as sperm concentration, motility, progressive motility, morphology, vitality and functional parameters such as sperm plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential and DNA fragmentation was not significantly affected and remained similar to the initial measurement throughout the daily ejaculation period. Despite intra- and inter individual variations, the average values of the basic semen parameters remained above the WHO (2010) reference values throughout the daily ejaculation period. Interestingly, a decreasing trend in intracellular ROS production was observed, although statistically not significant.ConclusionsThe study shows that an extended 2 week period of daily ejaculation does not have major clinical effects on conventional and functional seminal parameters.

Male infertility can be responsible for up to 20% of the cases attending fertility consultation facilities; nonetheless, the underlying molecular mechanisms that could explain it are still elusive. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate conventional and functional parameters of semen samples from patients who presented with male infertility of unknown origin. Conventional semen parameters and functional parameters (i.e. intracellular reactive oxygen species production, mitochondrial membrane potential, sperm chromatin structure assay, sperm membrane lipid peroxidation and antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma) were evaluated on semen samples from 54 healthy donors, 23 patients with idiopathic infertility and 34 fertile controls. No significant differences were observed in the conventional seminal parameters between the fertile and infertile men. However, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and DNA fragmentation were observed in the infertile patients compared to the fertile group. Alterations in intracellular ROS production and DNA fragmentation could be associated with male idiopathic infertility. These parameters could eventually distinguish both groups more accurately than the conventional parameters. Our current results are encouraging, and the efficacy of these parameters in the clinical settings needs to be further assessed to establish their predictive potential as a marker of unexplained male infertility.

No abstract

No abstract

El objetivo de este reporte es resaltar la importancia de las pruebas funcionales para evaluar la calidad seminal durante el análisis seminal de rutina. Se analizó mediante citometría de flujo el potencial mitocondrial, la integridad de la membrana espermática, la producción de especies reactivas del oxígeno y la suceptibilidad de fragmentación del ADN espermatico, en un paciente que consultó por infertilidad al Grupo Reproducción de la Universidad de Antioquia. Se encontró una producción basal de especies reactivas del oxígeno junto con una actividad mitocondrial alto y un porcentaje elevado de espermatozoides con su membrana plasmatica integra, siendo estos indicadores de una buena calidad espermática; no obstante, se observó una elevada suceptibilidad de fragmentación del material genetico (DFI=42%). A pesar que un hombre aparentemente manifiesta características espermáticas de un individuo sano puede que la calidad del material genético de sus espermatozoides esté incidiendo sobre su éxito reproductivo.