Reproduction Abstracts

Objectives: The present study measures the level of interleukin-6 (IL6) and the lipid peroxidation (LPO) marker, malondialdehyde (MDA), in the semen ofobese and non-obese infertile males vs obese and healthy fertile males and to correlate their level with the semen characteristics.

Materials and methods: A total of 100 infertile participants, consisting of equal number of obese infertile and non-obese infertile males (n=50) were selectedas cases. To include age matched controls 40 obese fertile and 50 non-obese fertile males were randomly selected from Mediwave IVF and fertility research hospital and different obesity clinics in Mysore. Semen analysis was performed for all of the participants according to WHO guidelines within 1 h after collecting the samples. Seminal IL6 levels were measured using ELISA.

Results: LPO levels were determined by measuring malondiadehyde (MDA) in seminal plasma. All tests were performed in duplicates and mean values were recorded. The effect of BMI on seminal level of IL6 and LPO were compared with some lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and mobile and laptop usage. Obese infertile males had higher level of seminal IL6 in comparison to the non-obese infertile and both control groups. Seminal MDA levels were significantly higher in obese infertile group than other groups. Moreover, most semen parameters such as count, motility, viability, morphology, hypo osmotic swelling test (HOS), nuclear chromatin decondensation test (NCD) and acrosomal intactness test (AIT) showed negative correlation with BMI and the levels of seminal IL6 and MDA. Besides, BMI and smoking showed significant effect on IL6 and LPO levels.

Conclusion: We demonstratedelevated levels of seminal IL6 and LPO in obese infertile males. This increase may contribute to other biological pathway which lead to the decreased sperm quality andpossibly give rise toinfertility in obese infertile males and not obese fertile males.