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

MOTRICH RD, MACKERN-OBERTI JP, MACCIONI M, RIVERO VE.

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

Año: 2009 vol. 91 p. 2273 - 2273

BJECTIVE: To study the putative direct consequences of autoimmunity to theprostate on male semen quality and fertility potential. DESIGN: Experimentalanimal study. SETTING: Immunology, CIBICI-CONICET, National University ofCordoba, Argentina. ANIMAL(S): Twelve male and 24 female Wistar rats.INTERVENTION(S): Autoimmune prostatitis was induced following a standardprotocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Citric acid, zinc, sperm vitality, reactiveoxygen species levels, total antioxidant capacity, DNA fragmentation, and lipidperoxidation 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 fromautoimmune rats. Increased reactive oxygen species values and lower levels oftotal antioxid