seminal plasma levels of copper and its relationship with seminal parameters

background: the trace element copper has been identified as a highly toxic element for sperm. it is known to affect sperm motility in humans and experimental implantation of copper in the epididymis vas deferens and scrotum of mammals has been demonstrated to affect fertility detrimentally. objective: sperm concentration motility vitality and morphology are parameters used to evaluate potential male fertility. since copper is believed to be important for spermatogenesis; we conducted a study to investigate the correlation between seminal plasma copper concentration and human semen parameters in 232 males. materials and methods: we selected 232 subfertile or infertile men who referred to omid fertility clinic randomly. samples were categorized into normospermic (n=32) oligozospermic (n=73) asthenozospermic (n=111) and azospermic (n=16) groups according to their spermiogrames. total seminal plasma copper concentration was determined by furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. results: the results showed that seminal plasma copper concentrations in oligozospermic asthenozospermic and azospermic groups are significantly higher than normozospermic group (p