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Effect of Uremia on Semen Quality and Reproductive Function in Humans

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Abstract

In this study, we sought to evaluate the effect of uremia on semen quality and reproductive function in humans. For this purpose, 53 end-stage uremic patients were randomly selected. The semen samples were produced by masturbation. Fertility index (FI) was calculated according to the following formula: sperm density (×106/ml) × sperm motility (%) × normal sperm morphology rate (% per 10,000). The semen samples of uremic patients were compared with those of fertile and infertile males. The results show that three patients failed to produce semen. There were no sperm found in four semen samples. The sperm motility, survival rate, sperm density, and normal sperm morphology rate of the remaining 46 patients were found to be significantly lower than those of controls. The uremic patients had the FI of 0.68(2.08) which was obviously lower than that of fertile 7.7(13.51) and infertile 4.13(5.77) males. It was, therefore, concluded that uremia caused a significant decline in sperm quality and reproductive function which resulted in consequential infertility in humans.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Zhejian Province Medical Science (Grant #2009A182) and the Hongzhou Technology Division Science (Grant #20090833B22) organizations for their providing the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kidney Transplantation Center, Hangzhou Jiulisong Hospital, 14 Lingyin Road, Hangzhou, 310013, China

    Longgen Xu, Xiaofeng Zhu & Meili Ma

  2. Zhejiang Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Huiming Xu & Junrong Zhang

  3. Organization Transplantation Center, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, 415 Fengyang Road, Shanghai, 200003, China

    Xiaomin Shi

Authors
  1. Longgen Xu
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  2. Huiming Xu
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  3. Xiaofeng Zhu
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  4. Junrong Zhang
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  5. Meili Ma
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  6. Xiaomin Shi
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Longgen Xu or Xiaomin Shi.

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Longgen Xu and Huiming Xu are co-first authors of this study.

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Xu, L., Xu, H., Zhu, X. et al. Effect of Uremia on Semen Quality and Reproductive Function in Humans. Cell Biochem Biophys 62, 29–33 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-011-9254-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-011-9254-9

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