In vitro antioxidant effect of curcumin on human sperm quality in leucocytospermia

Decreased sperm quality was caused by oxidative stress in semen from patients with leucocytospermia. Curcumin is a traditional Chinese herbal monomer extracted from Zingiberaceae turmeric and zedoary turmeric and has antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to investigate the effects and specific molecular mechanisms of curcumin on sperm quality in patients diagnosed with leucocytospermia. Forty cases of semen samples were collected from patients with leucocytospermia and 35 cases from normal fertile male. Computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) was used to detect sperm motility after curcumin incubation. ELISA was used to measure the changes in H2 O2 , sperm mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), cytochrome B (Cyt B) and NADH dehydrogenase 5 (NADH5) contents before and after curcumin treatment. The results indicate that curcumin can significantly improve sperm motility from the patients with leucocytospermia. After curcumin treatment, the level of the H2 O2 was significantly decreased in the supernatant of curcumin-incubated spermatozoa from leucocytospermic patients. The content of mtDNA was significantly decreased, while the content of Cyt B and NADH5 in spermatozoa was significantly increased. In conclusion, curcumin can significantly improve sperm motility of leucocytospermic patients, against the oxidative damage induced by H2 O2 . Therefore, curcumin may play a role in mitigating the H2 O2 -induced injury to sperm.

白细胞精子症患者精液中的氧化应激导致精子质量下降。姜黄素是从姜科植物姜黄和郁金中提取的一种传统中草药单体，具有抗氧化和抗炎作用。本研究旨在探讨姜黄素对白细胞精子症患者精子质量的影响及其具体分子机制。收集40例白细胞精子症患者的精液样本和35例正常生育男性的精液样本。采用计算机辅助精液分析（CASA）检测姜黄素孵育后的精子活力。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测姜黄素治疗前后过氧化氢（H₂O₂）、精子线粒体DNA（mtDNA）、细胞色素B（Cyt B）和NADH脱氢酶5（NADH5）含量的变化。结果表明，姜黄素可显著提高白细胞精子症患者的精子活力。姜黄素治疗后，白细胞精子症患者经姜黄素孵育的精子上清液中H₂O₂水平显著降低。精子中mtDNA含量显著降低，而Cyt B和NADH5含量显著增加。总之，姜黄素可显著提高白细胞精子症患者的精子活力，对抗H₂O₂诱导的氧化损伤。因此，姜黄素可能在减轻H₂O₂对精子的损伤方面发挥作用。