Effect of psychological stress on the L-arginine-nitric oxide pathway and semen quality
Küçük Resim Yok
Tarih
2006
Dergi Başlığı
Dergi ISSN
Cilt Başlığı
Yayıncı
Assoc Bras Divulg Cientifica
Erişim Hakkı
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Özet
It has been reported that mental stress causes abnormality of spermiogram parameters. We investigated the effect of psychological stress on the L-arginine-nitric oxide (NO) pathway. Semen samples were collected from 29 healthy fourth semester medical students just before (stress) and 3 months after (non-stress) the final examinations. Psychological stress was measured by the State Anxiety Inventory questionnaire. After standard semen analysis, arginase activity and NO concentration were measured spectrophotometrically in the seminal plasma. Measurements were made in duplicate. During the stress period, Sperm concentration (41.28 +/- 3.70 vs 77.62 +/- 7.13 x 10(6)/mL), rapid progressive motitity of spermatozoa (8.79 +/- 1.66 vs 20.86 +/- 1.63%) and seminal plasma arginase activity (0.12 +/- 0.01 vs 0.22 +/- 0.01 U/mL) were significantly lower than in the non-stress situation, whereas seminal plasma NO (17.28 +/- 0.56 vs 10.02 +/- 0.49 mu mol/L) was higher compared to the non-stress period (P < 0.001 for all). During stress there was a negative correlation between NO concentration and sperm, concentration, the percentage of rapid progressive motility and arginase activity (r = -0.622, P < 0.01; r = -0.425, P < 0.05 and r = -0.445, P < 0.05, respectively). These results indicate that psychological stress causes an increase of NO level and a decrease of arginase activity in the L-arginine-NO pathway. Furthermore, poor sperm quality may be due to excessive production of NO under psychological stress. In the light of these results, we suggest that the arginine-NO pathway, together with arginase and NO synthase, are involved in semen quality under stress conditions.
Açıklama
Anahtar Kelimeler
Psychological Stress, Arginase, Nitric Oxide, Sperm Motility, Sperm Count, Arginase Activity, Human Spermatozoa, Distress, Peroxynitrite, Infertility, Fertility, Motility, Product
Kaynak
Brazilian Journal Of Medical And Biological Research
WoS Q Değeri
Q3
Scopus Q Değeri
Q1
Cilt
39
Sayı
5
