Total antioxidant capacity in patients with varicoceles.

OBJECTIVE: To explore a possible molecular defect linked to infertility, studying total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of seminal plasma in varicocele (VAR).
DESIGN: Case-series study. SETTINGS: Volunteers in an academic research environment and out-patients in clinical service. PATIENT(S): Twenty-five VAR patients (9 oligospermic and 16 normospermic) vs 24 non-VAR controls (7 subjects with idiopathic oligospermia and 17 normospermic subjects). INTERVENTION(S): Evaluation of seminal plasma TAC. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): TAC was measured using myoglobin, as a source of radicals, which interact with a chromogen 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS), whose radical cation is spectroscopically detectable. The latency phase (Lag) in the accumulation of ABTS cation is proportional to antioxidant concentration. RESULT(S): Lag showed significantly greater values in the all VAR patients vs non-VAR subjects. Oligospermic-VAR patients showed the greatest values. Lag and sperm motility significantly correlated in VAR normospermic patients. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) showed significant inverse association with Lag in same group. CONCLUSION(S): The augmented Lag values could indicate an ineffective utilization of antioxidants in oligospermic-VAR, while in normo-VAR the direct correlation between TAC and motility suggest a potential protective role toward sperm motility. In the same group, the inverse correlation with FSH suggests that greater FSH levels induce a better utilization of antioxidants by spermatozoa.