The clinical significance of seminal transferrin

Kim, Hong Sup; Kim, Se Joong; Lee, Moo Sang

Abstract

The concentration of transferrin in seminal plasma from 16 cases of normal controls and 61 cases of infertile men has been evaluated in order to identify the relationship between seminal transferrin concentrations, human semen parameters and plasma FSH levels. The seminal transferrin concentrations were found to be significantly lower in patient with azoospermia and oligo-asthenospermia as compared with findings for normal controls(p<0.05). A significant positive correlation was found between sperm count and seminal transferrin levels (r=0.2480, p<0.05). However. no significant correlations were obtained to sperm motility and sperm morphology (p>0.05). No significant differences in seminal transferrin concentration were observed in the groups with obstructed azoospermia. Non-obstructed azoospermia and men who had had a vasectomy (p>0.05). And a significant correlation was not found between seminal transferrin and circulating FSH in patients with azoospermia (p>0.05). In conclusion. it is suggested that seminal tansferrin originates mainly from the testis and is significantly correlated to sperm density. These results, however, results, however, do not clarify whether the cause of azoospermia is obstructed or non-obstructed. So, for the study of patients with azoospermic infertility, the epididymal marker is necessary to differentiate obstructive and non-obstructive cases.