Association of Seminal Plasma Total Antioxidant Capacity and Malondialdehyde Levels With Sperm Parameters in Infertile Men With Varicocele

Varicocele is one of the most common reasons for male infertility and could impair spermatogenesis through mechanisms that are not well known. Recently, oxidative stress has been introduced as a major reason for male infertility caused by varicocele.
In the current study, we aimed to assess the TAC (total antioxidant capacity) and MDA (malondialdehyde) as stress oxidative markers in infertile men with varicocele and fertile men, and moreover, their correlation with sperm parameters.
Patients and This case control study was performed on 43 infertile men with varicocele and 46 men with proven fertility. The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reaction methods were used for seminal plasma TAC and MDA assay, respectively.
Lower TAC levels (1.7 ± 0.2 vs. 1.3 ± 0.4 mmol/L, P = 0.0004) and higher MDA levels (2.5 ± 1.1 vs. 5.8 ± 1.9 mmol/L, P Our findings indicated that oxidative stress could play an essential role in male infertility caused by varicocele and may impair spermatogenesis leading to infertility.