Male Infertility

Infertility is the inability of a sexually active, non-contracepting couple to achieve pregnancy in one year. The causes of male infertility include, the testicular primary failure, deficient gonadotropin secretion, hyperprolactinemia or idiopathic male infertility. The present study was conducted to verify the relationship of male sex hormones changes with serum lipid profile and oxidative stress. To achieve this aim 75 infertile men with ages of 20-40 years and 35 fertile men with ages of 20-40 years were enrolled. Sex hormones were estimated by an enzyme immunoassay method with final fluorescent detection and free testosterone was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, while serum lipid profile and MDA concentrations were determined by spectrophotometric methods. The results demonstrated significant increases of FSH, LH and prolactin levels and significant decreases of total and free testosterone levels in the group of infertile men when compared with the control group. Serum lipid profile and MDA levels of infertile men indicated significant increases of cholesterol, LDL-c and MDA levels, and a significant decrease of HDL-c levels when compared with the control group.