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. 2025 Dec;57(1):2500692.
doi: 10.1080/07853890.2025.2500692. Epub 2025 May 9.

Expression and correlation of male reproductive hormone levels with abnormal semen liquefaction time

Guo-Qiong Zhang  1 , Jie Zheng  1 , Lian He  1 , Xing-Xing Wang  1
Affiliations

Expression and correlation of male reproductive hormone levels with abnormal semen liquefaction time

Guo-Qiong Zhang et al. Ann Med. 2025 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To explore the reproductive hormone levels and their correlation in males with abnormal semen liquefaction time, providing evidence-based medical insights for the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal semen liquefaction.

Methods: A total of 36 male patients who exhibited a sperm liquefaction time exceeding 60 min in the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province from January 2021 to January 2023 were included. They were classified into the delayed liquefaction group. During the same period, 138 male patients with a sperm liquefaction time of ≤60 min were assigned to a normal liquefaction group. Comparative analysis was performed on reproductive hormone levels between the two groups, including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), prolactin (PRL), as well as semen parameters such as normal morphology sperm rate, forward motility sperm rate, and sperm concentration. Pearson's correlation analysis was employed to investigate the relationship between reproductive hormones and semen liquefaction time. The effectiveness of biomarkers in predicting delayed semen liquefaction time was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

Results: Patients with delayed semen liquefaction had significantly lower rates of normal morphology sperm, forward progressive motility, and sperm concentration when compared to patients with normal liquefaction. Significantly lower FSH, LH, and T levels were observed in patients with delayed semen liquefaction than those with normal liquefaction. Furthermore, a negative correlation was identified between serum FSH and T levels in male infertility patients and semen liquefaction time. The sensitivity of FSH for predicting semen liquefaction defects is 72.2%, whereas testosterone exhibits a sensitivity of 94.4%.

Conclusion: The semen liquefaction time of male infertility patients is closely correlated with semen parameters and reproductive hormone levels. Specifically, FSH and T exhibit a negative correlation with semen liquefaction time.

Keywords: Semen liquefaction; reproductive hormones; semen parameters.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Scatter plot of correlation between semen liquefaction time and reproductive hormones. *Represents P < 0.05, *** Represents P < 0.001; the red line represents a trend chart
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Receiver operating characteristic curve for FSH and testosterone in predicting liquefaction defects. Blue line: ROC curve for FSH with its Area under the Curve (AUC) value. Red line: ROC curve for testosterone with its AUC value.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
ROC curve for FSH and testosterone in predicting liquefaction defects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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