Evaluation of the Utility of Seminal Plasma Resistin and Leptin in Predicting Successful Surgical Sperm Retrieval in Men with Non-Obstructive Azoospermia

Amer, Medhat; Zohdy, Wael; GamalEl Din, Sameh Fayek; Moawad, Hanan; Hasan El Saedy, Dina; Zaki Gamal, Eman; Ragab, Ahmed

doi:10.18502/jri.v24i2.12496

Evaluation of the Utility of Seminal Plasma Resistin and Leptin in Predicting Successful Surgical Sperm Retrieval in Men with Non-Obstructive Azoospermia

Authors

Medhat Amer ¹

Wael Zohdy ²

Sameh Fayek GamalEl Din ²

Hanan Moawad ³

Dina Hasan El Saedy ⁴

Eman Zaki Gamal ⁴

Ahmed Ragab ⁵

¹ Department of Andrology, Sexology and STDs, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; Adam International Hospital, Giza, Egypt

² Department of Andrology, Sexology and STDs, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

³ Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt

⁴ Egypt Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo, Egypt

⁵ Department of Andrology, Sexology and STDs, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt

10.18502/jri.v24i2.12496

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the current study was evaluation of the utility of seminal plasma (SP) resistin and leptin in predicting successful surgical sperm retrieval (SSR) in men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Methods: This prospective comparative study was conducted in the andrology clinic of a specialized fertility center. In total, 53 NOA men as candidates for either first time micro‐testicular sperm extraction (micro-TESE) or repeat micro-TESE and 28 normozoospermic controls were included. ELISA was used for measurement of SP resistin and leptin levels in all participants. Significance level was defined as p<0.05. Results: The current study demonstrated a significant positive correlation between estradiol (E2) level in serum and SP resistin (r=0.342, p=0.025). Also, there was a highly significant positive correlation between SP leptin and SP resistin (r=0.568, p=0.001). Interestingly, SP leptin was the only variable that demonstrated a significant correlation with eventful micro-TESE outcome in men who underwent micro-TESE for the first time. Finally, ROC curve showed that SP leptin level of 4.05 ng/ml predicted successful SSR in men who underwent micro-TESE for the first time with a sensitivity of 73.3% and a specificity of 75% as 11 out of 27 (41%) cases showed eventful micro-TESE at or above this cut-off level [AUC of 0.747, 95% CI, lower bound of 0.555, and upper bound of 0.939, p=0.030]. Conclusion: SP leptin can be used as a non-invasive biomarker to predict successful SSR in NOA cases undergoing first time micro-TESE, while SP resistin failed to play the same role.

Keywords

leptin

Male infertility

Non

obstructive azoospermia

Resistin

Seminal plasma