Status of vitamin E and reduced glutathione in semen of oligozoospermic and azoospermic patients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the status of seminal plasma reduced glutathione (GSH) and vitamin E in three different conditions of spermatogenesis: azoospermia, oligozoospermia and normospermia.


METHODS
Reduced glutathione was measured in the seminal plasma by the method of Moron et al (1979), and vitamin E estimation was performed by the method of Taylor et al (1976).


RESULTS
Vitamin E levels in seminal plasma of oligospermic and azoospermic samples were significantly decreased to 65.54% and 66.04% respectively as compared to the normospermic group. Levels of reduced glutathione were also significantly decreased in oligospermic and azoospermic group, and the reduction in azoospermic group (76.73%) was more pronounced than oligozoospermic group (62.07%).


CONCLUSIONS
The decrease in reduced glutathione, an endogenous antioxidant, levels in azoospermic and oligozoospermic conditions may cause disruption in the membrane integrity of spermatozoa as a consequence of increased oxidative stress.
Department of Biophysics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
A
A
Bhardwaj
A
A
Verma
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S
Majumdar
K L
KL
Khanduja
D005978:Glutathione / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000378:metabolism*; D012661:Semen / Q000737:chemistry*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000032:analysis*
D014810:Vitamin E; D005978:Glutathione