Exploring the relationship between semen quality and the level of seminal plasma elastase and leukocytes in male infertility

Objective To explore elastase levels,leukocyte counts,and semen quality based on the seminal plasma of infertile male patients.Methods In 137 infertile male patients,enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to detect elastase levels in seminal plasma,peroxidase staining was used to quantitatively measure leukocytes in seminal plasma,and the Tsinghua Tongfang CASAS-QH-Ⅲ computer-assisted semen analyzer was used to analyze semen quality.Results Of 137 infertile male patients,64 had abnormal levels of seminal plasma elastase;in 73 of the patients,semen pH,sperm density,the percentage of grade 'a' sperm,and sperm motility were comparable to indices for normal patients but the difference was significant(P0.05).Forty-three patients had a silent genital tract infection leading to abnormal levels of seminal plasma elastase;21 were confirmed to have inflammation,and the semen pH,the percentage of grade 'b' sperm,and sperm motility differed significantly in these patients(P0.05).The level of seminal plasma elastase and leukocyte count were positively correlated(r=0.561,P=0).Of the 137 infertile male patients,97 had a normal leukocyte concentration(1×106/ml) and 40 had an abnormal concentration(≥ 1×106/ml) s.Comparison of the two groups indicated that differences in their semen pH,the percentage of grade 'a' sperm,and sperm motility were statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion Seminal plasma elastase,leukocyte concentration,and semen quality are closely related.Monitoring of levels of seminal plasma elastase and interleukin concentration could provide an important basis for etiological diagnosis of asymptomatic genital tract inflammation leading to sterility.