[Contents of lead, cadmium, zinc and manganese in the follicular fluid and semen of non-professionally exposed infertile couples].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the contents of lead, cadmium, zinc and manganese in the follicular fluid and semen of infertile couples that are not professionally exposed to the four heavy metallic elements.


METHODS
In vitro fertilization pre-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) was carried out in wives, and follicular fluid collected after routine oocyte retrieval. Semen was obtained from husbands by masturbation. The contents of zinc in the follicular fluid and semen were determined by the flame atom absorption method and those of lead, cadmium and manganese by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.


RESULTS
The average concentrations of lead, cad- mium, zinc and manganese were 151.06 microg/L, 2.02 microg/L, 0.54 mg/L and 28.54 microg/L in the follicular fluid, and 250.23 microg/L, 7.42 microg/L, 189.11 mg/L and 82.15 microg/L in the semen. The follicular fluid samples in which lead, cadmium, zinc or manganese was detected constituted 43.8% (21/48), 22.9% (11/48), 75.0% (36/48) and 50.0% (24/48), and the semen samples accounted for 70.2% (33/47), 31.9% (15/47), 100.0% (47/47) and 46.8% (22/47), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the average contents of lead, cadmium, zinc and manganese are higher in the semen than in the follicular fluid in the non-professionally exposed infertile couples, and so is the percentage of the samples containing each of the elements, with the exception of manganese.
Zha
Shu-wei
SW
Jiangsu Family Planning Research Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210036, China.
Yu
Jian-qiao
JQ
Liu
Jia-yin
JY
Pan
Li
L
Lin
Ning
N
Zha
Ji
J
Yang
Ming-ming
MM
D000328:Adult; D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015571:Follicular Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008345:Manganese / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D012661:Semen / Q000737:chemistry*; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
D019216:Metals, Heavy; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D008345:Manganese; D015032:Zinc