Method for restoring functional activity of spermatozoa in HIV-infected men

The problem of male infertility especially affects HIV-infected men, so sperm motility decreases with highly active antiretroviral therapy. The aim of the study was to characterize the biochemical characteristics of sperm in HIV-infected men in order to restore their functional activity. Material and Methods. We observed 22 patients aged 25 to 45 years. This group has an undetectable viral load (40-50 copies / ml) and is receiving antiretroviral therapy. The studies were carried out using a Nikon Eclipse E 200 phase-contrast microscope. Determination of biochemical parameters of sperm plasma after standard sample preparation on a Roche Cobas integra 400+ automatic biochemical analyzer using Roche reagents and control materials. Results. The content of albumin, which determines the tonicity of the medium in the blood and the fulfillment of multiple vital functions, is almost 10 times lower than in blood plasma. It should be noted that the indicators of total protein and albumin in the sperm plasma of HIV-infected men are higher than in a healthy group of men and subfertile patients. The activity of aspartate-aminotransferase (ASAT) exceeds the blood plasma data. Moreover, the activity of ASAT is significantly higher in HIV-infected men. The activity of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is more than 200 times higher than in blood plasma. Further, as an experiment, we placed the "washed" spermatozoa in biological media (sperm plasma of a healthy donor, a woman's cervical fluid during ovulation) and obtained the following results. The percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa increased in the sperm plasma of healthy donors to 12%. We also observed an increase in sperm motility in the cervical fluid of a healthy woman during ovulation up to 7%. Conclusions. Thus, we have demonstrated that the use of sperm plasma from a healthy donor helps to restore sperm activity to 12%. The percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa increased in the sperm plasma of healthy donors. We observed an increase in sperm motility in the cervical fluid of a healthy woman during ovulation up to 6%.

male infertility, HIV infection, sperm plasma, enzymes, protein metabolism