title: Comparison of three methods to detect white blood cells in semen: leukocyte esterase dipstick test, granulocyte elastase enzymeimmunoassay, and peroxidase cytochemistry.
abstract: Comparison of three methods for the detection of WBC in semen revealed a low concordance of positive test results. Among 557 semen samples, most positives were observed with the leukocyte esterase dipstick test (n = 95; 17.1%) followed by the peroxidase test (n = 51; 9.2%). There was little overlap between positives in the esterase-dipstick and the peroxidase method (29/117; 24.8%). With only 4 of 557 samples (0.7%), the PMN-elastase ELISA showed a surprisingly low incidence of positives. Because of lack of a gold standard, none of the three methods could be identified as superior. Because of its simplicity, specificity, and cost-effectiveness, the peroxidase method appeared most suited for clinical application.
authors.affiliation: Dermatologische Klinik und Poliklinik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panhans
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zebhauser
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meurer
mesh_terms: D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases / Q000032:analysis*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000473:pathology*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D019272:Leukocyte Elastase; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase / Q000032:analysis*; D009195:Peroxidase / Q000032:analysis*; D011934:Reagent Strips; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012661:Semen / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D011934:Reagent Strips; D009195:Peroxidase; C021443:leukocyte esterase; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase; D019272:Leukocyte Elastase