Significance of simultaneous determination of serum and seminal plasma α-tocopherol and retinol in infertile men by high-performance liquid chromatography.

High-performance liquid chromatography was used for the simultaneous determination of α-tocopherol and retinol in serum and semen of 40 subfertile men. The serum levels of the two vitamins were significantly higher in serum than in semen (3- to 10-fold) (P<0.001). The mean α-tocopherol levels were higher in the serum and semen of men with normal sperm parameters (20±5 and 5±4 μmol L-1) than those with oligozoospermia (10±4 and 3±2 μmol L-1), azoospermia (8±3 and 3±1 μmol L-1) and asthenozoospermia (9±6 and 3±2 μmol L-1) (P<0.002). Mean retinol levels in serum were similar in men with normal sperm parameters (2.4±2 μmol L-1) as in those with defective sperm parameters such as oligozoospermia (2.5±2 μmol L-1) and asthenozoospermia (2.1±1.0 μmol L-1) (P=0.15), but significantly lower in men with azoospermia (1.3±0.3 μmol L-1) (P<0.05). The α-tocopherol:retinol ratio was significantly higher in semen than in serum of men with normal sperm parameters (11.5) and those with asthenozoospermia (10.3) compared with ratios in those with oligozoospermia (8.3) and azoospermia (6.3). This may be related to reduced antioxidant activity in sperm dysfunction as a result of lipid peroxidation, from increased generation of reactive oxygen species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]