O-15: Different Leukocyte Concentrations in Normal and Abnormal Human Semen and Its Correlation with Sperm Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species, Lipid Peroxidation and DNA Fragmentation

Background: According to World Health Organization guideline (WHO 2010), seminal leukocyte concentration over 1×106/mL is a threat for sperm quality because of their role in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, lipid per-oxidation (LPO) and later DNA fragmentation (DF). However, this threshold is equal for all semen samples without attention to their qualities. Therefore this study was setup to evaluation of leukocytes concentration in subgroups of human semen and its relationship with intracellular ROS, LPO and sperm DNA fragmentation. Materials and Methods: Ninety-nine semen samples were divided to normal (n=39) and abnormal (n =60) groups. Each group was classified again based on seminal leukocytes concentration include of categories A: ≥0 to ≤0.25 × 106/mL; B: ≥0.25 to ≤0.5 × 106/mL; C: ≥0.5 to ≤0.75 × 106/mL; D: ≥0.75 to ≤1.0 × 106/mL, E: ≥1 × 106/mL). LPO, intracellular ROS, and DNA fragmentation (sperm chromatin structure assay) were studied in all groups and subgroups.Results: Based on Data analysis, in normal group, LPO increased significantly in leukocyte ≥ 1×106/mL (p<0.01) and other parameters did not show any important association with different leukocyte concentrations. Meanwhile, LPO in abnormal group rose significantly in leukocyte concentrations ≥0.75 (p<0.01). Also, significant percentage of high DNA stainable (HDS) was observed in class ≥ 1 × 106/mL (p<0.01). Intracellular ROS did not show any important correlation in this group too. Conclusion: In normal semen samples, leukocyte concentration ≥1×106/mL seems as an initial stage of LPO damage; whereas in abnormal semen samples, this point is over 0.75× 106.