Effects of autoimmunity to the prostate on the fertility of the male rat

MOTRICH RD; MACKERN-OBERTI JP; MACCIONI M; RIVERO VE

FERTILITY AND STERILITY

Elsevier

Lugar: Los Angeles; Año: 2009 vol. 91 p. 2273 - 2273

0015-0282

BJECTIVE: To study the putative direct consequences of autoimmunity to the prostate on male semen quality and fertility potential. DESIGN: Experimental animal study. SETTING: Immunology, CIBICI-CONICET, National University of Cordoba, Argentina. ANIMAL(S): Twelve male and 24 female Wistar rats. INTERVENTION(S): Autoimmune prostatitis was induced following a standard protocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Citric acid, zinc, sperm vitality, reactive oxygen species levels, total antioxidant capacity, DNA fragmentation, and lipid peroxidation were analyzed in semen samples. Mating studies were also performed, and different fertility parameters (potency, fecundity index, fertility index, fetus size, and preimplantation and postimplantation embryo loss) were assayed. RESULT(S): Citric acid and zinc levels were decreased in seminal samples from autoimmune rats. Increased reactive oxygen species values and lower levels of total antioxidant capacity were shown in semen samples from a