Introduction: Lipids play an important role in the structural and functional activity of spermatozoa. We investigated the phospholipids composition and fatty acid-bound phospholipid of spermatozoa from asthenozoospermic and normozoospermic men.
Patients and methods: Semen samples were analyzed in 15 asthenozoospermic and eight normozoospermic subjects and the sperm phospholipids and fatty acids were determined using high performance thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography, respectively.
Results: The most abundant (mean+/-SE) phospholipids in normozoospermic and asthenozoospermic samples were phosphatidylethanolamine (70.9+/-11.5 and 44.2+/-8.5 nmol/10(8) spermatozoa, respectively) and phosphatidylcholine (58.6+/-9.5 and 34.6+/-3.2 nmol/10(8) spermatozoa, respectively). Compared to normozoospermic samples, asthenozoospermic samples showed lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; p<0.01) and higher levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA; p<0.05).
Discussion: Changes in content of phospholipids and its fatty acid composition of spermatozoa may be related to infertility in asthenozoospermic males.