Volume 83, Issue 1 , Pages 31-34, January 2002
Leukocyte subtypes in electroejaculates of spinal cord injured men☆☆☆★★★
Abstract
Trabulsi EJ, Shupp-Byrne D, Sedor J, Hirsch IH. Leukocytes subtypes in electroejaculates of spinal cord injured men. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:31-4. Objectives: To determine the level of leukocytospermia and seminal leukocyte subtypes in men with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to compare the findings with those of fertile, able-bodied controls. Design: Prospective, controlled clinical trial. Setting: University infertility practice. Participants: Thirteen able-bodied fertile men age matched to 17 men with SCI seeking reproductive rehabilitation. Interventions: Vibratory stimulation and antegrade electroejaculation for SCI group; manual ejaculation for controls. Main Outcome Measures: Immunoperoxidase technique on a panel of antileukocyte monoclonal antibodies to obtain the leukocyte subpopulations: B cells, T cells, neutrophils, and macrophages. Immunohistochemical staining and scoring to obtain the mean number of leukocytes and spermatozoa per high power field. The ratios of leukocyte to sperm and leukocyte subtype to sperm were tabulated. Results: Total white blood cells, neutrophils, and macrophages in the SCI population were significantly higher than those in the ejaculates of controls. Although not significantly elevated, all the other evaluated subsets were higher in the SCI group then in the controls. Conclusions: Leukocytospermia appears to be a pervasive abnormality in the semen recovered from men with SCI. The SCI group had significant elevations of total seminal leukocytes after electroejaculation. Compared with controls, men with SCI had significantly more seminal neutrophils and macrophages. Asthenospermia, universally observed in men with SCI, may be attributable, among other causes, to leukocytospermia. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Keywords: Infertility, male, Macrophages, Neutrophils, Reactive oxygen species, Rehabilitation, Spermatozoa, Spinal cord injuries
☆ No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
☆☆ Reprint requests to Irvin H. Hirsch, MD, Dept of Urology, Thomas Jefferson University, 1025 Walnut St, Rm 1112, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
★ Supplier
★★ a. Signet Laboratories Inc, 180 Rustcraft Rd, Ste 140, Dedham, MA 02026.
PII: S0003-9993(02)14965-3
doi:10.1053/apmr.2002.26250
© 2002 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Volume 83, Issue 1 , Pages 31-34, January 2002
