Diagnostic application of oxidation-reduction potential assay for measurement of oxidative stress: clinical utility in male factor infertility

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to: (i) describe a protocol measuring the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) by MiOXSYS System as an alternative method of seminal oxidative stress (OS) testing; (ii) establish a reference value for static ORP (sORP) to distinguish between controls and male factor infertility patients; (iii) evaluate intra-observer and inter-observer reliability; and (iv) examine association of sORP with sperm parameters predictive of male factor infertility. Elevated levels of sORP were seen in infertile patients (6.22 ± 1.10 mV/10 sperm/ml) compared with controls (1.59 ± 0.29 mV/10 sperm/ml) (P = 0.004). A sORP cut-off value 1.36 mV/10 sperm/ml identified normal semen and abnormal semen quality with a sensitivity 69.6%, specificity 83.1%, positive predictive value 85.3% and negative predictive value 65.9%. The test demonstrated strong intra-observer (CV 8.39%) and inter-observer reliability (correlations >0.97). Higher sORP levels were associated with poor sperm parameters across the fertility status of subjects. Negative correlations were noted with sperm parameters (concentration, total sperm count, motility and morphology) indicating these male infertility parameters are related to OS. In conclusion, the introduction of ORP as a novel clinical test for assessment of OS will help clinicians to better diagnose and manage male factor infertility patients.

Reactive Oxygen Species and Sperm Cells

“…A higher ORP level indicated an imbalance in the activity of all available oxidants relative to all available antioxidants in the ejaculate and indicates a state of oxidative stress. Agarwal et al confirmed the cutoff level as 1.36 mV/10 6 spermatozoa/mL [83]. This MiOXSYS system has shown promise as a diagnostic tool in the evaluation of male infertility.…”

Laboratory tests for oxidative stress

“…[86] They confirmed the presence of significantly higher levels of ORP among the infertile group and demonstrated, using receiver operator curve analysis, that a cut-off level of 1.36 mv//10 6 sperm/ml was associated with a sensitivity of 69.6%, specificity of 83.1%, and overall accuracy of 75.2% (area under the curve = 0.770). [86]…”

Ethnic Peculiarities of Some Indicators of Metabolic and Clinical Status in Infertile Men

“…По данным ряда авторов, окислительный стресс наблюдается приблизительно у половины мужчин с подтверждён-ным бесплодием [3,10,13,14,17].…”

“…Нарушение структуры плазматической митохондриальной мембраны меняет её текучесть, что снижает подвижность сперматозоидов и изме-няет акросомальную реакцию, необходимую для про-никновения сперматозоида в оболочку яйцеклетки [2,4,5,13,15,16].…”