The impact of seminal zinc and fructose concentration on human sperm characteristic

Abstract

This study assessed the association between the estimated fructose and zinc concentration and various seminal characteristics. The study participants include 90 male subjects visiting the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital between January and July, 2010 for semen analysis as part of routine fertility investigations prior to treatment. Seminal fructose concentration was significantly lower when the normozoospermic group was compared to the oligozoospermic group (P < .0001) and in the normozoospermic group compared to the azoospermic group (P = 0.0096). A comparison be-tween the oligospermic group and the azoospermic group gave no statistically significant differ-ence. Fructose correlated positively with volume (r = 0.36, P < 0.0001) and head defect (r = 0.07, P > 0.05) and negatively with count (r = -0.21, P < 0.05). Zinc correlated negatively with volume (r = -0.09) and head defect (r = -0.20) and positively with motility (r = 0.18), count (r = 0.15) and tail de-fect (r = 0.11). Seminal fructose and zinc concentrations correlated negatively (r = -0.26, P < 0.05). The role of seminal fructose concentration does not only lie in the assessment of seminal vesicle dysfunction but in conjunction with other seminal properties could give a useful indication of male reproductive function whilst seminal zinc concentration might not be most appropriate for the as-sessment of male reproductive dysfunction.

Journal of Medical and Biomedical Sciences (2012) 1(1), 14-20

Keywords: Spermatozoa, carbohydrate, infertility, Ghana