Abstract:
Hyperglycemia is known to cause male reproductive impairment through
diverse mechanisms. Indeed, the development of oxidative stress in parallel to the wide distribution of
advanced glycation end products in the reproductive tract of diabetic men may be a key role in male
infertility. However, one of the rational strategies to prevent this effect is to increase the scavenging
capacity of antioxidants in sperm.
Objectives: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the protective effect of Vitamin E loaded
in cyclodextrin (CD-Vit E) on human mature spermatozoa exposed in vitro to diabetic plasma with high
HbA1c levels.
Methods: Blood plasma from diabetic patients (N= 10) with high HbA1c levels (≥10%) was co
incubated with ten normozoospermic semen samples pre-treated with CD-Vit E. The sperm quality was
determined by the assessment of sperm motility using Computer Assisted Semen Analysis (CASA),
and the oxidative status was determined by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, using the
thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay.
Results and discussion: The results showed that all of the sperm progressive movements
(moderate progressive: 13.29 ± 1.79% and rapid progressive: 3.58 ± 0.58%) decreased considerably
after 30 min of incubation with diabetic plasma. Interestingly, the pre-treatment with CD-Vit E (0.25
mg/ml) reported an effective improvement in all sperm motility (27.86 ± 1.71% and 11.21± 1.88% for
moderate and rapid progressivity, respectively). Also, an outstanding decrease in immobile cells was
observed in CD-Vit E group (30.54 ±3.72 %). In parallel, lipid peroxidation increased dramatically in
the diabetic group (0.91 ± 0.04 nmol MDA/108 SPZ) and reduced after treatment with CD-Vit E (0.16
± 0.02 nmol MDA/108 SPZ).
Conclusion: these data indicated that diabetic plasma at high HbA1c levels impaired mature
spermatozoa motility by the increase of its oxidative status. While CD-Vit E has a potent protective
effect as an antioxidant agent in the improvement of sperm quality in diabetic men
