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Journal of Medical Sciences

Year: 2013 | Volume: 13 | Issue: 6 | Page No.: 497-500
DOI: 10.3923/jms.2013.497.500
Seminal Plasma Chromium, Cadmium and Lead Levels in Infertile Men
I.E. Bassey, O.E. Essien, I.K.P. Isong, A.E. Udoh and G.S. Agbara

Abstract: Heavy metals, have continued to pose health problems and hazards to humans. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the contribution of occupational and environmental exposures to toxic pollutants such as chromium, cadmium and lead to declining sperm concentration and human male infertility. A total of one hundred and forty two subjects were used for this study. Eighty of the subjects were infertile men attending the Gynaecological Clinic of the University of the Calabar Teaching Hospital. The infertile men were categorized as oligospermic azoospermic and asthenoligospermic while sixty two fertile men who had fathered at least one child 62 were used as control subjects. The mean seminal plasma chromium levels of oligospermic and asthenoligospermic infertile men was significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of the controls. The mean seminal plasma lead level for the subjects was asthenoligospermic 26.81±7.5 μg dL-1, oligospermic 15.4±1.5 μg dL-1 and azoospermic 12.1±0.8 μg dL-1 while that of the control was 17.12±0.7 μg dL-1. There was no significant difference between the infertile men and control (p<0.05). The mean seminal plasma cadmium levels for the subjects was asthenoligospermic 3.65±0.2 μg dL-1, oligospermic 3.32±0.3 μg dL-1 and azoospermic 3.49±0.5 μg dL-1 while that of control was 3.66±0.2 μg dL-1. There was no significant difference between the infertile men and control. High chromium concentration in seminal plasma has adverse effect on sperm production, motility and sperm count in oligospermic and azoospermic infertile men.

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How to cite this article
I.E. Bassey, O.E. Essien, I.K.P. Isong, A.E. Udoh and G.S. Agbara, 2013. Seminal Plasma Chromium, Cadmium and Lead Levels in Infertile Men. Journal of Medical Sciences, 13: 497-500.

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