-
Indian Journal of Experimental BiologyVol. 43. November 2005. pp
963-974
Review Article
Mechanism, measurement, and prevention of oxidative stressin
male reproductive physiology
Ashok Agarwal* & Sushil A PrabakaranCenter for Advanced
Research in Human Reproduction, Infertility, and Sexual Function,
Glickman Urological Institute, andDepartment of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500Euelid Avenue,
Desk A19.I, Cleveland,
Ohio, 44195, USANumerous factors influence male fertility. Among
these factors is oxidative stress (OS), wmcb bas elicited an
enor-
mous interest in researchers in recent period. Reactive oxygen
species (ROS) are continuously produced by various meta-bolic and
physiologic processes. OS occurs when the delicate balance between
the production of ROS and the inherent anti-oxidant capacity of the
organism is distorted. Spermatozoa are particularly sensitive to
ROS as their plasma membranecontains polyunsaturated fatty acids
(PUFA), which oxidizes easily. They also lack cytoplasm to generate
a robust preven-tive and repair mechanism against ROS. The
transition metal ions that are found in the body have a catalytic
effect in thegeneration of ROS. Lifestyle behaviours such as
smoking and alcohol use and environmental pollution further enhance
thegeneration of ROS and thus, cause destructive effects on various
cellular organelles like mitochondria. sperm DNA etc. Thisarticle
analyzes the detrimental effects of OS on male ferdlity.
measurement of OS and effccti ve ways to decrease or elimi-nate
them completely. We have also provided information on oxidative
stress in other systems of the body, which may beapplied to future
research in the field of reproductive biology.
Keywords: Male fertility. Oxidative stress, Spermatozoa
metabolism of oxygen and are present in all aerobicorganisms.
They ray a significant role in many bio-logical processes. as can
affect the individual mole-cules and thus the entire organism. as
is believed tobe one of the major causes of many human
diseases.Some of the OS-mediated pathologies are listed inTable 1.
Virtually every discipline of medicine is in-terested in as and its
implications. It is believed thatthe new field of 'Oxidative
Stress, Diagnostics andTherapeutics' may have a significant impact
on theeconomics, science and the practice of medicine in thepresent
century7.
Table I-Diseases and degenerative processes mediated byoxidative
stress
Alzheimer'sdisease
Iron overload Parkinson's disease
IntroductionAs many as 15% of all couples living in the
United
States have difficulty conceiving a child. Male factorsare
responsible in at least 30% of the cases, and inanother 20%, the
pathology is found both in men andwomen. Approximately 6% of men
between the ageof 15 and 50 suffer from male infertilityl. A
meta-analysis of 61 studies worldwide found a downwardtrend in
sperm count and volume of seminal fluid overthe past 50 years2. In
1940, the average sperm countwas 113 million per mI. By 1990, the
count haddropped to 66 million per mI3. This decreasing trendin
sperm count has led to speculation that recent envi-ronmental,
dietary and/or lifestyle changes are inter-fering with a man's
ability to produce spermatozoa. Itis believed that these factors
exert dleir detrimentaleffects through oxidative stress (OS).
Oxidative stress (OS) and its significance-OS oc-curs as a
consequence of an imbalance between theproduction of reactive
oxygen species (ROS) and theavailable antioxidant defense against
them4,S. ROS arefree radicals and peroxides that are derived from
the
Autoimmunedisease
Cancer
Ischemic-reperrusion Rheumatoid arthritisinjuryMacular
degeneration Segmental progeria
disorders
AgingCardiovascular Multiple sclerosisdisease
Cataractogenesis Muscular dystrophy
Diabetes Pancreatitis
.Correspondent authorPhone: (216) 444-9485. Fax: (216)
445-6049;E-mail: [email protected];Website: www
.clevelandclinic.orgjReproductiveResearchCenter
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INDIAN J EXP BIOL. NOVEMBER 2005964
Mechanism of ROS formationOxygen in the atmosphere has two
unpaired elec-
trons, and these unpaired electrons have parallel spins.Oxygen
is usually non-reactive to organic moleculesthat have paired
electrons with opposite spins. Thisoxygen is considered to be in a
ground (triplet or in-active) state and is activated to a singlet
(active) stateby two different mechanisms:
a) Absorption of sufficient energy to reverse thespin on one of
the unpaired electrons.
.0-0. .0.-0:
Triplet oxygen (rr) Singlet oxygen
-
AGARWAL & PRABAKARAN: PREVENTION OF STRESS IN MALE
REPRODUcrIVE PHYSIOLOGY 965
and the other is NADH-dependent oxido-reductase(diphorase)
system at the mitochondriallevef7. Thereis a strong positive
correlation between immaturespermatozoa and ROS production, which
in turn isnegatively correlated with sperm quality. Further-more,
it has been noticed that as the concentration ofimmature
spermatozoa in the human ejaculate in-creases, the concentration of
mature spermatozoa withdamaged DNA rises25.
Physiological role of ROSSpermatozoa acquire the capacity to
mOve during
their transit through the epididymis, but lack the abil-ity to
fertilize. After ejaculation, they undergo a seriesof physiological
changes called capacitation28. Ca-pacitation is followed by
acrosome reaction. which istriggered by the zona pellucida of the
ovum and al-lows the sperm to fertilize the egg29.30.
Capacitationand the acrosome reaction are redox-regulated
proc-esses. Exogenous administration of 0,,'- or H2~ pro-motes
capacitation and the acrosome reaction whereasthe addition of
antioxidants prevents them from un-dergoing these events. This
demonstrates the impor-tance ofROS in human sperm functions3).
Nitric oxide (NO1, a free radical with a relativelylong
half-life (7 s), promotes capacitation. No detect-able activity of
nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is foundin spermatozoa, which suggests
that it originates fromtissues or fluids from the female genital
trac~. Lowconcentrations of NO cause a significant increase
incapacitation32 and zona pellucida binding33. NOregulates cyclic
adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)concentration and induces
capacitation of spermato-zoa through the action of adenyl cyclase.
Finally, NOalso plays a role in sperm hyperactivation34.
nations to oxygen, fonning superoxide or hydrogenperoxide, which
is further reduced to an extremelyreactive OH radical that induces
oxidative stress.TMI, mainly iron, are involved in Fenton's
reaction,which produces highly reactive hydroxyl
radicals.Macrophages reduce TMI and facilitate monovalentlipid
hydroperoxide (LOOH) decomposition, which inturn induces lipid
peroxidation37. Both a deficiencyand an excess of manganese (Mn)
causes neurotoxic-ity via ROS generation38. TMIs such as lead (Pb)
andcadmium (C
-
966 INDIAN 1 EXP BIOL, NOVEMBER 2005
is the most important cellular organelle that mediatesapoptosis.
High levels of ROS disrupt the integrity ofthe mitochondrial
membrane, which in turn releasescytochrome c. It activates the
caspase enzyme cascadeand triggers apoptosis. Studies in infertile
men haveshown that high levels of cytochrome c in the seminalplasma
indirectly reflect significant mitochondrialdamage caused by high
levels of ROS. Levels of ROSin infertile men are correlated
positively with apopto-sis, which in turn is negatively correlated
with con-ventional semen parameters49.S9-62.
Effects of life-style behavior and environmentOS associated with
smoking-Tobacco contains
nearly 4000 harmful substances such as alkaloids,nitrosamines,
nicotine and hydroxycotinine. Many ofthese substances generate ROS
and RNS63.64. Smok-ing has been associated with decreased sperm
qual-ity6S-67. Reduction in motility is due to the damagecaused by
ROS to the flagellum and axonemal struc-tures of the tail of
spermatozoa. Sperm motility cor-relates negatively with the amount
of cotinine andhydroxycotinine in the seminal plasma6s.68. The
pres-ence of cotinine and hydroxycotinine in seminalplasma
indicates that harmful substances found in to-bacco smoke can
penetrate the blood-testes barrier.
Oxidative stress and alcohol-Many processes andfactors are
involved in causing alcohol-induced OS.Alcohol metabolism results
in the formation ofNADH, which enhances activity of the
respiratorychain, including heightened ~ use and ROS forma-tion.
One of the by-products of alcohol metabolism,acetaldehyde,
interacts with proteins and lipids toform ROS. It is also capable
of damaging the mito-chondria leading to decreased A TP production.
Alco-hol also induces hypoxia that results in tissue
damage.Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with adecrease
in the percentage of nonnal spenD in asthe-nozoospermic patients69.
However, better spenD mor-pholop has been observed in men who drink
moder-ately7 .
OS and environment-Many environmental factorssuch as radiation,
medications and pollutants induceROS production)s. In a study
conducted on Danishgreenhouse workers, a high count of spennatozoa
wasfound among organic farmers who grew their prod-ucts without the
use of pesticides or chemical fertiliz-ers. The group of
blue-collar workers in the abovestudy had a low spenD count in
comparison to theabove group of workers7). These studies
categoricallysuggest the need for a healthy environment.
Damage 10 proleins-Sulphur-containing aminoacids, having thiol
groups specifically, are very sus-ceptible to OS. Aetivated oxygen
can abstract H atomfrom cysteine residues to form a thiyl radical
that willcross-link to a second thiyl radical to form
disulphidebridges. Alternatively, oxygen can add to a methio-nine
residue to form methionine sulphoxide deriva-tives. Many amino
acids undergo specific irreversiblemodifications when a protein is
oxidized. For exam-ple, tryptophan is readily cross-linked to form
bityro-sine products42. Oxidative damage can also lead tocleavage
of the polypeptide chain and formation ofcross-linked protein
aggregates. Histidine, lysine,proline, arginine and serine form
carbonyl groups onoxidation43. The oxidative degradation of protein
isenhanced in the presence of metal cofactors that arecapable of
redox cycling, such as Fe.
Damage 10 DNA-Activated oxygen and agentsthat generate oxygen
free radicals, such as ionizingradiation, induce numerous lesions
in DNA that leadto deletions, mutations and other lethal genetic
ef-fects44. Pyrimidine bases are most susceptible to OSas are
purines and deoxyribose sugar. Oxidation of the"sugar by the
hydroxyl radical is the main cause forDNA strand breaks4s.
Oxidative damage can causebase degradation, DNA fragmentation and
cross-linking to protein46-48. In addition, incorporation
ofoxidized deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate causesgene mutation or
altered gene expression. The rate ofDNA fragmentation is increased
in the ejaculate ofinfertile men49-S2 as indicated by the high
level of 8-OHdG, which is a product of DNA oxidation. SpermDNA is
normally protected from oxidative insult bytwo factors-the
antioxidants present in seminalplasma. and the characteristic tight
packaging of theDNAs3.
Apoplosis-Apoptosis is programmed cell deaththat occurs in a
genetically determined fashionS4. It isinitiated by ROS-induced
oxidative damage, but toomuch OS can terminate apoptosis by
inactivating the
ad S5-S7A . .dan .thcaspase enzyme casc e . ntIoXl ts can el
er
suppress or facilitate apoptosiss8. The mitochondrion
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AGARWAL Ii; PRABAKARAN: PREVEN'nON OF STRESS IN MALE
REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY 967
Paramagnetic (unpaired) electrons can exist in twoorientations,
either parallel (+1/2, -1/2) or antiparallelwith respect to an
applied magnetic field. ESR utilizesthe electron spin states energy
to obtain absorptionspectta. ESR cannot detect paramagentic species
suchas NO, superoxide and hydroxyl radical (OH) as theyare short
lived and very low in concentration. Thisproblem can be overcome by
adding exogenous spinttap molecules to the unstable free radicals
therebIconverting them to more stable secondary radica1s8 .A unique
spectrum is obtained when a spin-trappedfree radical is exposed to
an applied magnetic field.Nitroxide and nitrone derivatives are the
frequentlyused spin traps and are used to measure the
oxidativestress on proteins and lipids. These spin traps can alsobe
used to label biomolecules and probe basal andoxidative-induced
molecular events in protein andlipid microenvironments.
Aromatic traps-This method is considered supe-rior to the spin
trap, as it can be used to measureROS that are produced in vivo.
Salicylate and phenyl-alanine are suitable for human consumption.
Theyreact with the free radicals to form more stable
prod-ucts83-87. Salicylate and phenylalanine react with OHto yield
2,3-dihydroxybenzoate and tyrosine, respec-tively, which is not
produced in vivoss.88. Many hu-man studies have successfully used
salicylate in vivoto determine ROS levels89.90.
Efficiency of both ESR and aromatic trap dependson their
concentration at the sites of ROS formation.Because the ROS
molecules are less stable, the trapmolecules could compete with
many other com-pounds. Both ESR and aromatic trap methods are
notused traditionally for the measurement of OS in themale
reproductive system; however, they are com-monly used in the
measurement of ROS in other sys-tems like cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular.
Flow cytometry-in flow cytometry, the fluores-cent intensity of
the compounds oxidized by ROS ismeasured. Dihydrorhodamine 123 and
2, 7 dichloro-fluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) are the few com-pounds
that can diffuse into cells. They then becomedeacetylated and lose
their fluorescence. When oxi-dized by ROS, which is generated
within the cell, theybeCome highly fluorescent. The fluorescence
can bequantified, which reflects the rate and quantity of theROS
produced91.
Measurement of ROSChemiluminescence method- The
chemilumines-
cence method is the most commonly used techniquefor measuring
ROS produced by spennatozoan.73. Theassay determines the amount of
ROS, not the level ofthe sperm-damaging ROS present at any given
time.This method quantifies both intracellular and extra-cellular
ROS. Luminol is a probe that reacts with dif-ferent types of ROS.
It can measure both intra- andextracellular ROS whereas lucigenin
can only meas-ure the superoxide radical released
extracellularly.Hence, by using both the probes on the same
sample,it is possible to accurately identif~ intracellular
andextracellular generation of ROS74- 6. However, thereare some
serious limitations in measuring the super-oxide formation;
lucigenin undergoes redox cycling,and there are some unknown
sources of superoxide
generation77.Cytochrome c reduction or nitro blue
tetrazolium
( NBT) reduction method- The chemiluminescencemethod can
indicate only the total amount of ROSpresent in the semen and does
not provide informationabout the source of ROS. Cytochrome c
reduction andNBT reduction both can accurately predict whetherROS
have been produced by leukocytes or abnormalspermatozoal',7'. The
two most commonly used rea-gents to detect superoxide anion
radicals are NBT andferricytochrome-c (Cyt)79. Superoxide formed
byelectron transfer from a donor to molecular oxygencan be quenched
by NBT and Cyt, and these reagentsget reduced to diformazan and
ferricytochrome-c, re-spectively. Detection of superoxide is
confirmedwhen addition of the enzyme superoxide dismutase(SOD)
causes a decrease in production of diformazanfrom NBT or no
production of ferricytochrome c fromcytochrome c. Hence, it is
concluded that cytochrome creduction only measures extracellularly
released su-peroxide, whereas NBT may be reduced bl, extracel-lular
superoxide or other molecules as well .
Electron spin resonance and spin trapping-Elec-tron spin
resonance (ESR) spectroscopy-also knownas electron paramagnetic
resonance (EPR}-is used todetect electromagnetic radiation being
absorbed in themicrowave region by paramagnetic species that
aresubjected to an external magnetic field. This methodis
significant in that it can directly detect free radi-cals81. It is,
at present, the only analytic approach thatpermits the direct
detection of free radicals. Thistechnique reports on the magnetic
properties of un-paired electrons and their molecular
environment
Measurement or lipid peroxidationThiobarbituric acid assay-Lipid
peroxidation is a
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INDIAN J EXP DiaL. NOVEMBER 2005968
complex process leading to the formation of variousaldehydes
including malonaldehyde (MDA). Thethiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay
is the most commonmethod used to assess changes in MDA. The
assaydetects TBA-reactive substances via high perform-ance liquid
chromatography (HPLC), spectropho-tometry or spectrofluorescence92.
The simple TBAtest is highly unreliable as most TBA-reactive
materi-als in human body fluids are not related to lipid
per-oxidation.
Isoprostane iIsoP} method-The best availablelipid peroxidation
biomarker is isoprostane (IsoP),which is a specific end product of
the peroxidation ofpolyunsaturated fatty acids93.94. The IsoP
marker isadvantageous in that it is stable and is not producedby
enzymatic pathways like cyclooxygenase andlipoxygenase pathways of
arachindonic acid. Thismarker can be quantified in extracellular
fluids suchas seminal plasma or urine.
added to a free radical-generating system, the inhibi-tion of
the free radical action is measured and thisinhibition is related
to the antioxidant capacity of thesample. The FRAP assay measures
the ferric reducingability of a sample. However, the results of
these 3methods are weakly correlated. In addition, these testsdo
not measure T AC but instead predominantlymeasure the low molecular
weight, chain breakingantioxidants, excluding the contribution of
antioxidantenzymes and metal binding proteins.
Enhanced chemiluminescence assay-In the en-hanced
chemiluminescence assay, horseradish peroxi-dase (HRP)-linked
immunoglobulin is mixed with asignal reagent (luminol plus
para-iodophenol) - a
chemiluminescent substance to generate ROS. Thissolution is then
mixed with a substrate H2O2. The ca-pacity of the antioxidants in
the seminal plasma todecrease the chemiluminescence of the signal
reagentas measured by luminometer is compared with that ofTrolox (a
water-soluble vitamin E analogue) and ismeasured as molar Trolox
equivalents96.97.
Colorimetric assay- The colorimetric assay meas-ures the
absorbance of a sample with the help ofspectrophotometer. The
results are compared withtrolox (a vitamin E analogue) and are
given in troloxequivalents. This assay is a rapid and reliable
methodfor measuring seminal TAC and is less expensive thanthe
enhanced chemiluminescence assay96.
ROS-TAC score-Because each method for ana-lyzing ROS and T AC
has its own set of disadvan-tages, it is difficult to accurately
predict the OS statusof the semen. To overcome this problem, Sharma
etaI. have proposed the ROS-TAC score98.99. This isthe statistical
score obtained from ROS and T AC lev-els by principal components
analysis. To predict theOS level, a cutoff value of 30 was
established using agroup of normal healthy controls. Most of the
menwho had a ROS- T AC score below the cutoff valuewere found to be
infertile. Further, it was observedthat an infertile male with a
ROS- T AC score higherthan 30 could eventually initiate a
pregnancyl7.
Measurement of NOGriess reaction-The Griess reaction is an
indirect
measurement of NO. It measures the stable deriva-tives of NO
such as NO2- and NO3- using a spectro-photometer. The Griess
reaction is a two-step diazoti-zation reaction. Autoxidation of NO
and acidificationof nitrite (N~") results in the formation of
dinitrogentrioxide (N2O3)' which reacts with sulfanilamide toform
diazonium derivative. This intermediate com-pound interacts with
N-l-naphthylethylene diamine toyield a colored diazo product9S.
.
Fluorescence spectroscopy method-The fluores-cence spectroscopy
method is more advantageousthan the Griess reaction in that it has
a greater sensi-tivity and specificity. The N2O3 generated from
theautoxidation of NO or acidification of N~ - reacts
with aromatic 2,3-diaminonaphthalene (DAN) toyield highly
fluorescent 2,3-naphthotriazole (NA T),which is measured using a
fluorescent spectropho-tometers.
Measurement of total antioxidant capacity (TAC)in
semen-Assessment of T AC is a complex processbecause several
different antioxidants are present inthe semen. Therefore, many
methods have been de-veloped to analyze T AC of the semen. The
oxygenradical absorbance capacity (ORAC), the ferric re-ducing
ability of plasma (FRAP) and the trolox-equivalent antioxidant
capacity (TEAC) assays arewidely used for measuring T AC. Both the
ORAC andTEAC assays are inhibition methods. A sample is
AntioxidantsAntioxidants can fit into two broad categories-
enzymatic and non-enzymatic (Table 4). They pro-vide the
necessary defense against the OS generatedby ROS. Antioxidants are
present in seminal plasmaand in sperm cells.
Seminal plasma contains three important
enzymaticantioxidants-SOD, catalaselOO and GPXlGRD system.
-
~
AGARWAL & PRABAKARAN: PREVENTION OF STRESS IN MALE
REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY969
- -Table 4- Different classes of antioxidants that scavenge
ROS
Emymatic antioxidantsSuperoxide dismutaseCatalaseGlutathione
peroxidase/glutathione reductase (GPXKiRD)
Non-eazymadc antioxidantsVitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin C and
Vitamin A (carotenoids)Proteins like Albumin, Transferrin,
HaptOgJobulin,CeroJopasmin.GJutadli~ (GSH)Pyruvate. uiool
.,. . -
donating an elecb"on. It contains selenium at its activecenter,
which is required for its optimal functioning.This explains the
importance of selenium in male in-fertility. Four isozymes of GPX
present in humanscontain selenium in their active center. The fi~
iso-zyme GPX1, prevents apoptosis induced by OS. Thesecond and the
third isozymes are found in the gas-b"ointestinal tract and in
plasma, respectively. Thefourth fonD acts directly on membrane
phospholipidhydroperoxides and detoxifies them. It is present
inhigh levels in the testis.
GSSG + NADPH + W GSH +NADpto;:cG~
2GSH + R(OOH)COOH .GSSG +GPX
R(OH)COOH + H2O
In addition, it has an array of non-enzymatic
antioxi-dants-ascorbateIOI, uratelO2, vitamin E1OJ,
pyruvate6,glutathionelO4, albumin, vitamin A, ubiquinollos,
tau-rine and hypotaurinel(Wj. Seminal plasma is essentialin
protecting the spermatozoa because they contain alow volume of
cytoplasm, which makes them less ef-ficient in mounting a defense
against ROS.
Human spermatozoa contain mainly enzymatic an-tioxidantsl(Wj. Of
them, SOD plays a prominent role in
protecting spermatozoa against lipid peroxidation.Superoxide
dismutase (SOD)-SOD can be divided
into three different classes according to the catalyticmetal
present at the active site. SOOt (CuZnSOD) isfound in the cytosol
and contains copper (Cu) and Znas metal cofactors. SOD2 (MnSOD) is
present in mi-tochondria and contains Mn. SOD3 (ECSOD) is pres-ent
extracellularly. Of these, CufZn-SOD and Mn-SOD are the main forms.
SOD catalyzes the dismuta-tion of superoxide into hydrogen peroxide
and oxy-
gen.
Net reactionNADPH + R(OOH)COOH +W . NADY
+ R(OH)COOH + H2O
GRD stimulates the reduction of GSSG to GSH.This ensures a
steady supply of the reductive substrate(NADPH) to GPX. G6PD is
required for the conver-sion of NADY to NADPH.
Catalase-Catalase detoxifies both intracellularand extracellular
hydrogen peroxide to water andoxygen 109. In addition. catalase
activates NO~inducedSpenD capacitation, which is a complex
mechanisminvolving H2~ 30. Catalase activity has also been
de-tected in human spermatozoa and seminal plasmaloo.
C~~l~~
.2HA H~ + Ih~SOD20z-+2W . HA+Oz
SOD scavenges bodl intracellular and extracellularsuperoxide
radical and prevents the lipid peroxidationof plasma membrane.
However. it should be conju-gated with catalase or GPXI to prevent
the action ofHzOz. which promotes the formation of
hydroxylradicals'oo, SOD also prevents hyperactivation
andcapacitation induced by superoxide radicals '07, 11riswould
suppress the occunence of these ~ons~maturely before
ejaculation"',
Glutathione peroxidase/reductase system (GPX/GRD )-Importance of
the GPXlGRD system is cen-terOO on its antilipoperoxidative defense
in humanspennatoZ08. GPX reacts with peroxides and requiresreduced
glutathione (GSH) as the reductive substance
Seminal catalase activity in samples of vasecto-mized men has
been found to be similar to that ofnon-vasectomized men, suggesting
that the origin ofthe activity is neither testicular nor
epididyma111O.
Non-enzymatic antioxidantsA variety of non-enzymatic
antioxidants are pres-
ent in the semen, including vitamin C, vitamin E,glutathione,
urate, ubiquinone and bilirubin are pres-ent extracellularly in
seminal plasma and are consid-ered chain-breaking antioxidants.
Other non-enzymatic antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin
A,haptoglobulin, transferrin and ceruloplasmin are pres-ent in the
plasma membrane of the spermatozoa andact as preventive
antioxidants. Some of the effects ofthese antioxidants are reviewed
below'!!.
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INDIAN J EXP BIOL, NOVEMBER 2005970
Other antioxidants molecules such as N-acetyl L-cysteine,
carotenoids, coenzyme Q 10 and carnitinesprovide excellent
antioxidant support. N-acetyl L-cysteine is a precursor of
glutathione that assists in itsformation. It helps to improve the
motility of spenD. Italso reduces the DNA damage caused by
ROS47.123.Carotenoids play an important role in protecting thecells
and organisms by scavenging the superoxideradicals 124. Coenzyme Q
is associated with low den-sity lipoproteins (LDL) and hence, it
protects lipidsagainst peroxidative damagel25. It directly reacts
withoxygen and reduces superoxide generation. It alsoreacts with
peroxide radicals 126. It is an energy pro-moting agent and
improves spenD motilityl27. Carni-tine promotes membrane stability.
It plays an impor-tant role in spenD maturation and development.
Likecoenzyme Q 10, it is an energy promoting agenr28.
Vitamin E- This is a major chain-breaking anti-oxidant present
both in seminal plasma and in themembranel12, It reacts directly
with free radicals suchas the peroxy radical (ROO,) yielding lipid
hydroper-oxides. which can be removed by phospholipaseGSH-Px
systems 1 13, It also interrupts the lipid per-
oxidation process, which is why it is called a chain-breaking
antioxidant, This antioxidant also prevents areduction in spenD
motility. Finally, it scavenges allthree important types of ROS,
namely superoxide,H2~, and hydroxyl radicals 114,
Ascorbate-.oLike vitamin E, ascorbate is also achain-breaking
antioxid3nt and is found both intra-cellularly and
extracellularlyl12, It prevents lipid per-oxidation due to peroxyl
radicals. It also recycles vi-tamin E. It protects against DNA
damage induced byH2~ radical. Vitamin C has a paradoxical effect I
15 as
it can also produce ROS by its action on transitionmetal
ions.
OH + OH' + Fe3+/Cu 2+
Glutathione-Glutathione is the most abundantnon-thiol protein in
mammalian cells] ]6. It plays avital role in annihilating oxygen
toxicity by inter-rupting the reaction leading to ~- formationl]7,
In itsreduced form, it metabolizes H2O2 and OH, It is apeptide
composed of glutamate, cysteine and glycinethat exist in
thiol-reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxi- .dized glutathione (GSSG).
Glutathione and seleniumplay essential roles in the fonnation of
phospholipid
hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase-an enzymethat is present in
spermatids and forms the structuralpart in the mid-piece of mature
spermatozoa. A glu-tathione deficiency can lead to instability of
the mid-piece, resulting in defective motilityl]8,]19. It can
re-store the physiological constitution of poly-unsaturated fatty
acid in the cell membranel20.121.
In a study consisting of infertile men with unilat-eral
varicocele or genital tract inflammation. glutathi-one led to a
statistically significant improvement inth uality l04.122 T " th I
th ' e sperm q . reatment WI g uta lone
was found to have a statistically significantly positiveeffect
on spenD motility (in particular forward pro-gression) and on sperm
morphology, among othervariables. Glutathione therapy was suggested
as apossible therapeutic option in cases where OS is theprobable
cause of male infertility.
Aff + Fe 3+lCu 2+ .. A - + Fe 2+/CU +
Fe3+JCu+ + ~ ~. + Fe3+/Cu 2+
+H~Fe}+/Cu +
ConclusionOS and its role in male infertility have been an
area
of active research over the past two decades. Manyfree radicals
are the result of naturally occurring proc-esses such as oxygen
metabolism and inflammation.Environmental stimuli such as ionizing
radiation(from industry, excessive exposure to solar
radiations,cosmic rays, and medical X-rays), environmentaltoxins,
altered atmospheric conditions (e.g. hypoxiaand hyperoxia), ozone
and nitrous oxide (primarilyfrom automobile exhaust) as well as
many infectiousconditions greatly enhance ROS production.
Lifestylestressors such as cigarette smoking and excessive al-cohol
consumption are also known to affect levels offree radicals. They
playa vital role in the etiology ofmany diseases and degenerative
processes. Hence, itis imperative to have a sound knowledge about
themand the OS caused by them.
OS affects male fertility in many ways. The per-oxidation of
lipids, the cross-linking and inactivationof proteins and
fragmentation of DNA are typicalconsequences of free radicals.
Because the reactionsoccur quickly and are a part of complex chain
reac-tions, we usually can detect only their "footprints".This
requires the need for accurate measurement ofthe OS status of the
semen. The full potential of inno-vative techniques like spin
trapping and aromatictrapping should be utilized in the field of
reproductivescience. Although, a wide range of
antioxidants-bothnatural and synthetic exist, their routine use in
clinicalconditions is still controversial. This explains the needto
standardize a universal protocol to avoid unethical
-
AGARWAL & PRABAKARAN: PREVENTION OF STRESS IN MALE
REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY971
use of antioxidants. Further research is required in thisfield
to fully understand the complicated events asso-ciated with OS and
to eventually develop effectivestrategies to assist patients with
OS-associated maleinfertility .
AcknowledgementThe authors thank the Cleveland Clinic
Glickman
Urological Institute for support of their researchstudies.
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