Resumen:
rogenital inflammation is a known cause of male infertility. Increased levels of inflammatory cytokines, leukocyte counts and oxidative stress are highly detrimental for sperm quality thus compromising male fertility. Although cytokines affect sperm by recruiting and activating leukocytes consequently inducing tissue inflammation and oxidative stress, scarce to absent data have been reported about the putative direct effects of inflammatory cytokines on spermatozoa. Herein, we analyzed whether IFNγ, IL-17A, IL-1β, and IL-8 can alter human sperm motility and viability per se. Fractions of viable and motile spermatozoa from normospermic healthy donors were in vitro incubated with recombinant human IFNγ, IL-17A, IL-1β or IL-8 and sperm ROS production, motility, viability and apoptosis were analyzed. Sperm exposed to different concentrations of IFNγ, IL-17A and IL-1β, or a combination of them, for either 1 or 3 h showed significantly increased levels of mitoc