P-227: Effect of Cigarette Smoking on Seminal TAC and MDA Levels in Fertile and Infertile Men

Background: Defective sperm function is now recognized as one of the most important causes of male infertility. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) is known to cause various impairments of sperm cells and may play a major role in the etiology of male infertility. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is one of the final products of lipid peroxidation in seminal plasma. Seminal plasma possesses a rich source of different enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants that protect spermatozoa against oxidative stress as one of the mediators of infertility causing sperm dysfunction and low sperm quality. In this study we determined the relationship between cigarette smoking as an exogenous source of ROS in increased levels of MDA and decreased TAC to estimate the intensity of oxidative stress. Materials and Methods: MDA concentration and the TAC levels of seminal plasma were measured in fertile cigarette smokers (n=15), fertile non-smokers (n=15), infertile cigarette smokers (n=15), infertile non-mokers (n=15) by TBARs and FRAP methods, respectively. Results: The mean TAC in the seminal plasma of fertile non-smoker men was significantly higher than fertile smokers (p<0.001) and infertile non-smokers was significantly higher than infertile smokers (p=0.008). In contrast, MDA levels in fertile non-smoker men was lower than fertile smokers (p=0.89) and infertile non-smokers was lower than infertile smokers (p=0.23) but this difference wasn’t significant. Conclusion: It is suggested that antioxidant deficiency and LPO may contribute to reduction in sperm fertilization potential. Therefore cigarettes smoking is a risk factor for increased seminal oxidative stress in infertile men.