Association of Serum and Seminal Plasma Zinc Levels and Serum Testosterone Concentration in Oligospermic and AzospermicInfertile Men

Abstract

Human semen contains high concentrations of Zinc (Zn) inbound and ionic forms. The presence of abnormal levels of Zinc and testosterone may affect spermatogenesis production, maturation, motility, and fertilizing capacity of the spermatozoa. This study aimed to evaluate the levels of Zn in seminal plasma and serum and also to assess the serum testosterone concentration in different groups of males with infertility and to correlate their concentrations with sperm counts. Association of Serum and Seminal Plasma Zinc Levels and Serum Testosterone Concentration in Oligospermic and Azospermic Infertile Menstudy conducted in Khartoum state. The study carried out from March to August 2017. Hundred fertile and infertile males, 35 from them, were oligospermic,35 were azoospermic, and 30 males were normospermic. The serum testosterone was estimated using Tosoh 360, while the atomic absorption spectrophotometer determined the Zinc concentration in separated seminal plasma of each infertile male and fertile control subject. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. The age ranged from (18 to 40 years) with their average age was 29.11 ± 5.49 years. The serum testosterone was significantly lower (p<0.001) in azoospermic male compared with normospermic male and also serum and plasma seminal Zinc were highly significantly lower in azoospermic and oligospermic males compared with normospermic male (p=0.000). Positive correlation between seminal plasma and serum levels of Zinc and sperm count respectively, (r= 0.935, P=0.000), (r= +0.824, P=0.000), and also there was negative correlation between serum testosterone and sperm count (r= -0.133,(P≤ 0.447). In this study, the serum and seminal plasma zinc level was significantly decreased in azoospermia and oligospermia and were correlated with sperm counts and also serum testosterone was significantly decreased in azoospermia and was negatively correlated with sperm counts. It indicates that Zinc has a possible role in spermatogenesis and zinc plasma seminal considered one of the factors of testicular function in male subjects.