[Copper concentration in seminal plasma of infertile men: influence of hormone therapy on copper concentration in seminal plasma]

Abstract

The copper concentration in semen was measured in 30 subjects with male sterility and in 7 normal males and the relationship with the concentration of sperms was investigated. Copper concentration in semen was also measured before and after hormone therapy in the other 10 cases. The mean and standard deviation of seminal copper concentration in the normal males were 89.71 +/- 80.84 micrograms/dl. The mean and standard deviations by sperm frequency were 39.75 +/- 29.35 micrograms/dl for less than 45 x 10(6) sperms/ml, 31.93 +/- 38.20 micrograms/dl for less than 15 x 10(6) sperms/ml and 19.54 +/- 10.89 micrograms/dl for azoospermia. A significant decrease in seminal copper concentration was found with decrease in the concentration of sperms. The copper concentration in the hormone-treated group increased 3-32 times or 11 times on the average after treatment compared with the pre-treatment values. In the ten subjects, the mean and standard deviations were 18.30 +/- 10.49 micrograms/dl before treatment and 159.80 +/- 148.81 micrograms/dl after treatment representing a significant post-treatment increase in seminal copper concentration.