title: Investigation of serum vitamin D levels in Chinese infertile men.
abstract: Recently, the question of whether vitamin D exerts an effect on the pathogenic process of infertility has become the centre of attention. There are some controversial conclusions on this issue. Based on previous studies, we sought to explore the difference of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3levels between infertile patients and fertile men, and to find the influence on semen quality. The analysis of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3level showed no significant difference between infertile patients and fertile men. However, the levels of serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3in oligospermia (P < 0.05), asthenospermia (P < 0.01), oligoasthenospermia (P < 0.05) and azoospermia (P < 0.01) patients were significantly lower than those in fertile men. Moreover, serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3level was positively correlated with progressive motility and total sperm number in infertile patients. In addition, a positive correlation between serum prolactin and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3was observed in fertile men. Our results indicated that lower vitamin D could be a risk factor for poor semen quality in infertile men. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, as the biologically active form of vitamin D, may be more significant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: C-L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Q-F
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: S-X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Y-C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: G-C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Center for Reproduction and Genetics, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.|State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Y-C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002112:Calcifediol / Q000097:blood*; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000097:blood*; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013076:Sperm Count; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; D013739:Testosterone; C097949:1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D; D011388:Prolactin; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone; D002112:Calcifediol
keywords: 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3; male infertility; progressive motility; prolactin; total sperm number