Sperm fatty acid composition in subfertile men

Introduction: The lipid composition of spermatozoa plays an important role for successful fertilization. Patients and methods: In the present study, we analyzed the fatty acid (FA) composition of spermatozoa of normozoospermic, asthenozoospermic, oligozoospermic and oligoasthenozoospermic men. Results: Spermatozoa from asthenozoospermic (P < 0.01), oligozoospermic (P < 0.05) and oligoasthenozoospermic men (P < 0.05) had lower levels of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6w3, DHA) than those from normozoospermic men. In oligozoospermic and asthenozoospermic men, spermatozoa 18:0 content was higher than that of normozoospermics (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). 18:1w9 was higher in oligoasthenozoospermic and oligozoospermic samples when compared with normozoospermic samples (P < 0.05 for both). While from the point of view of total w6 FAs there was no significant difference among the groups, the w6/w3 ratio was significantly higher in asthenozoospermic samples than in normozoospermic samples (P < 0.05). Monounsaturated fatty acids (MFA) were higher in oligozoospermic samples (P < 0.05) than in normozoospermic samples, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were lower in asthenozoospermic (P < 0.01), oligoasthenozoospermic (P < 0.05) and oligozoospermic samples (P < 0.05) than in normozoospermic samples. Saturated fatty acids (SFA) were significantly higher in asthenozoospermic (P < 0.01) and oligozoospermic samples (P < 0.05) compared with normozoospermic samples. In correlation analysis, there were significant positive correlations between DHA with sperm motility (r = 0.53), sperm concentration (r = 0.36) and normal sperm morphology (r = 0.30). In addition, there were significant correlations between PUFA with sperm motility (r = 0.50), sperm concentration (r = 0.35), and normal sperm morphology (r = 0.28), and between w6/w3 with sperm motility (r = -0.47), sperm concentration (r = -0.27), and normal sperm morphology(r = -0.24). Discussion: These suggest that decreased DHA and PUFA, and increased w6/w3 in spermatozoa may be related to infertility in oligo- and/or asthenozoospermic men. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.