Avtor/Urednik		Zorn, B; Virant-Klun, I; Meden-Vrtovec, H
Naslov		Semen granulocyte elastase: its relevance for the diagnosis and prognosis of silent genital tract inflammation
Tip		članek
Vir		Hum Reprod
Vol. in št.		Letnik 15, št. 9
Leto izdaje		2000
Obseg		str. 1978-84
Jezik		eng
Abstrakt		Elastase-inhibitor complex was assessed by immunoassay in the seminal plasma of 312 men attending the outpatient infertility clinic. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, elastase at the cut-off value of >=290 ng/ml was shown to be efficient (sensitivity 79.5%, specificity 74.4%) in the detection of genital tract inflammation as defined by leukocytospermia (>1 x 10 6 leukocytes/ml). The prevalence of increased elastase in 292 infertile men was significantly higher (34%) as compared with that (5%) observed in 20 fertile men (P = 0,02). Moreover, high elastase concentration (>=290 ng/ml) was observed in 66 of the 264 men (25%) without leukocytospermia. A significant positive correlation was found between elastase concentration and patient age (r = 0,202, P < 0,0001) and the number of leukocytes (r = 0.330, P < 0,0001). A negative correlation was found between elastase concentration and semen volume (r = -0.146, P = 0,01) and the percentage of spermatozoa with singlestranded DNA (r = -0.194, P = 0.024), but there was no correlation between elastase and sperm reactive oxygen species production. A higher seminal elastase concentration was significantly associated with tubal damage in female partners (P < 0,001). After norfloxacine antibiotic therapy, decrease in elastase concentration was observed in 15 (25%) of the 60 treated patients. Tubal damage in the partner negatively affected the response to antibiotic therapy. In conclusion, granulocyte elastase is a reliable screening test for silent genital tract inflammation of the couple. The elastase-inhibitor complex may have a protective effect in reducing sperm DNA denaturation.
Deskriptorji		INFERTILITY, MALE ORCHITIS SEMEN LEUKOCYTE ELASTASE PROGNOSIS SPERMATOZOA DNA, SINGLE-STRANDED REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES ROC CURVE NORFLOXACIN