The concentration of transferrin in seminal plasma from 16 cases of normal controls and 61 cases of infertile men has been evaluated in order to identify the relationship between seminal transferrin concentrations, human semen parameters and
plasma
FSH
levels. The seminal transferrin concentrations were found to be significantly lower in patient with azoospermia and oligo-asthenospermia as compared with findings for normal controls(p<0.05). A significant positive correlation was found between
sperm
count and seminal transferrin levels (γ=0.2480, p<0.05). No significant differences in seminal transferrin concentration were observed in the groups with obstructed azoospermia, nonobstructed azoospermia and men who had had a vasectomy(p>0.05).
And a
significant correlation was not found between seminal transferrin and circulating FSH in patients with azoospermia (p>0.05). In conclusion, it is suggested that seminal transferrin originates mainly from the testis and is significantly correlated
to
sperm density. These results, however. do not clarify whether the cause of azoospermia is obstructed or nonobstructed. So, for the study of patients with azoospermic infertility, the epididymal marker is necessary to differentiate obstructive and
nonobstructive cases.
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