Effect of Genital Tract Infection on Alpha Glucosidase Enzyme in Semen of Infertile Male Patients

Background: Certain biological substances could be thought of as reliable predictors of male infertility. An epididymal pathology might be evaluated with the use of the glucosidase determination. Reduced levels of glucosidase in semen have been linked to impaired sperm maturation in the epididymis and may possibly be connected to epididymitis and genital tract inflammation.
Objective: This study aimed to assess how genital tract infections affected the amount of alpha glucosidase in infertile men's semen.
Patients and methods: Thirty-one infertile male patients with pyospermia were included in this prospective study. Patients were recruited from the Outpatient Clinic of Andrology unit in Dermatology and Andrology & STDs Department, Mansoura University Hospital.
Results: The α-glucosidase level before treatment among all studied cases was assayed in infected seminal fluid. The mean level was 7.2 ng/mL. It increased significantly after treatment to 15.8 ng/mL, p < 0.001. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of α-glucosidase was conducted for prediction of presence of bacterial infection in seminal fluid. The α-glucosidase level showed high accuracy AUC (AUC=0.918). The best cut off value was 13.1 ng/mL, sensitivity was 78.5%, specificity was 78%, PPV was 70.1%, NPV was 95.2%, and accuracy was 87.1%. No significant difference was found regarding the baseline α-glucosidase level according to type of infertility or urinary symptoms among all studied cases (p>0.05 for each). No significant difference was found regarding the baseline α-glucosidase level according to organism type among all studied cases (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Alpha-glucosidase levels are dramatically reduced in male reproductive tract infections, indicating a problem with the epididymis's secretory ability.