Determination of Rare Earth Elements in Human Sperm and Association with Semen Quality

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to measure lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), europium (Eu), and gadolinium (Gd) concentrations in human semen and correlate the results with sperm quality. The median semen content of La was 19.5 µg kg−1 dry weight (dw) (range 2.27–269), of Ce was 41.9 µg kg−1 dw (range 4.52 to 167), of Eu was 0.68 µg kg−1 dw (range 0.06–1.95), of Gd was 3.19 µg kg−1 dw (range 0.38–12.0), and of calcium (Ca) was 4063 mg kg−1 dw (range 484–17,191). Concentrations of La, Ce, Eu, Gd, and Ca were significantly lower in nondrinkers’ semen than in semen from drinkers. Significant differences were detected between La, Ce, Eu, Gd, and Ca concentrations in semen from nondrinkers and moderate drinkers. Concentrations of La, Ce, and Gd in semen of short-term smokers were significantly lower than those in extremely long-term smokers. Significant differences were also detected between La concentration in semen from a group of short-term smokers and that of a group of long-term smokers. Positive correlations were found between La, Ce, Eu, Gd, and Ca concentrations in semen. La, Ce, Gd, and Ca concentrations in semen were positively associated with progressive motility and percentage of normal spermatozoa. Positive correlations were found between Ca and sperm concentration. Concentrations of La, Ce, and Gd were negatively associated with sperm concentration, whilst Ca concentration was negatively associated with volume of ejaculate. At the examined level, La, Ce, Eu, and Gd did not affect sperm quality, whereas alcohol consumption and smoking might have increased the level of rare earth elements in semen.

Effect of acute/subchronic samarium exposure on the concentration, motility, and morphology of sperm in male mice

“…Investigation of human semen indicated that the concentration of REEs in semen is negatively associated with sperm concentration (Marzec-Wróblewska et al, 2015). The observations in this study seem to support this.…”

“…Subchronic exposure to Sm caused lesions and abnormal regulation of apoptosis in the testis (Zhang et al, 2014). A recent investigation of human semen also suggested that La, Ce, Gd, and Ca concentrations in the semen are negatively associated with sperm concentration, and positively associated with the progressive motility and percentage of normal spermatozoa (Marzec-Wróblewska et al, 2015).…”

Synthesis and effect of a new Terbium gibberellic complex on the histopathological alteration induced by Gibberellic acid on liver and kidney of mice Mus musculus

“…Therefore, the proliferation of osteoblasts is stimulated, and the differentiation of osteoclasts is impeded during bone remodeling. [33] Lanthanides involved in many of vital processes as sperm fertility, [34] anti-HIV activities, [35] and antidiabetic. [25,26] Moreover, Lanthanides have been reported in the treatment of renal failure.…”

“…[27,28] In addition, Lanthanides exerted many of biological activity as antioxidant, [29] antiseptic, [30] antibacterial, [25,31] anticoagulant, [32] and antiparasites. [33] Lanthanides involved in many of vital processes as sperm fertility, [34] anti-HIV activities, [35] and antidiabetic. [32,36] The study included some factors related to cell survival as TNF R2, CCN1/CYR61, and Cyt c. Tumor necrosis factor receptor II (TNF R2) has antiapoptotic properties.…”

Prediction of semen quality using artificial neural network

“…Both mainstream and sidestream smoke contain many toxic elements including heavy metals and rare earth elements (Böhlandt et al, 2012;Slezakova et al, 2009). The components of tobacco smoke are known as affecting both the semen characteristics and the individual sperm parameters (Böhlandt et al, 2012;Marzec-Wróblewska et al, 2015a;Pant et al, 2015).…”