Stimulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production by unesterified, unsaturated fatty acids in defective human spermatozoa

Adam Koppers, Manohar Garg, R Aitken

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Abstract

Male infertility is a relatively common condition affecting 1 in 20 men of reproductive age. The etiology of this condition is thought to involve the excessive generation of reactive oxygen species by human spermatozoa; however, the cause of this aberrant activity is unknown. In this study we demonstrate that defective human sperm populations are characterized by high cellular contents of both esterified and unesterified fatty acids and a decrease in the proportion of the total fatty acid pool made up by docosahexaenoic acid. The free unsaturated fatty acid content of these cells was positively correlated with the induction of mitochondrial superoxide generation (P
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112 - 119
Number of pages8
JournalFree Radical Biology and Medicine
Volume48
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes

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