Relationship of semen hyperviscosity with IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10 and ROS production in seminal plasma of infertile patients with prostatitis and prostato-vesiculitis

Changes in levels of oxidative damage products in semen and their relationship to seminal fluid viscosity (SFV) have recently received increasing research interest. We analysed whether SFV was associated with ROS generation, levels of cytokines TNF-alpha (TNF-), IL-6 and IL-10 and seminal leucocyte concentration, and whether ROS production was related to the extent of infections/inflammations at one (prostatitis) or two (prostato-vesiculitis) male accessory glands. We studied 169 infertile patients, with chronic bacterial prostatitis (PR, n=74) and/or bilateral prostato-vesiculitis (PV, n=95), as diagnosed by the ultrasound (US) criteria. Healthy fertile men (n=42) served as controls. In the PV patient group, SFV, semen characteristics and ROS production had median values that were significantly higher than those found in PR patients and controls, although other sperm variables had values significantly lower than those found in PR patients or controls. In PV infertile patients, ROS generation and pro-inflammatory cytokines levels were higher than those found in PR infertile patients and controls, although seminal IL-10 levels in PV and PR patients were lower than those found in the controls. In PR patients, the levels of SFV were positively related to TNF- (r=0.67; P<0.01), fMLP-stimulated ROS production in the 45% Percoll fraction (r=0.687, P<0.01) and the 90% Percoll fraction in basal condition (r=0.695, P<0.01), and after fMLP-stimulation (r=0.688, P<0.01). Thus, our data indicated that seminal hyperviscosity is associated with increased oxidative stress in infertile men and increased pro-inflammatory interleukins in patients with male accessory gland infection, more when the infection was extended to the seminal vesicles.