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Direct Methods for the Detection of Reactive Oxygen Species in Human Semen Samples

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Studies on Men's Health and Fertility

Abstract

The accurate, selective measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by human spermatozoa is still a work-in-progress. Traditionally, chemiluminescence approaches have been employed using luminol or lucigenin as probes to provide a sensitive readout of the redox status of human sperm populations. A particular concern with these chemiluminescent probes is that they can also generate spurious signals as a consequence of redox cycling activity, particularly in the case of lucigenin which only needs to experience a one-electron reduction at the hands of a cellular oxidoreductase to generate intense but artificial redox signals. Most importantly, the measurement of ROS in sperm suspensions is confounded by the presence of leukocytes. Alternatives are to either physically remove the leukocytes using magnetic beads coated with a monoclonal antibody against the common leukocyte antigen (CD45) or to use fluorescent probes in combination with fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry to focus the analysis on individual cells rather than cell suspensions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    R. John Aitken PhD, ScD & Geoffry N. De Iuliis PhD, BSc (Hons)

  2. Department of Environmental and Life Science, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Mark A. Baker PhD

Authors
  1. R. John Aitken PhD, ScD
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  2. Geoffry N. De Iuliis PhD, BSc (Hons)
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  3. Mark A. Baker PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. John Aitken PhD, ScD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Urology, Cleveland Clinic, Euclid Avenue 9500, Cleveland, 44195, Ohio, USA

    Ashok Agarwal

  2. Faculty of Science and IT, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Newcastle, University Drive 1, Callaghan, 2308, New South Wales, Australia

    R. John Aitken

  3. , Department of Male Infertility, Centro Androgen, C/FERNANDO MACIAS 8, 1ºC, La Coruña, 15004, La Coruña, Spain

    Juan G. Alvarez

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Aitken, R.J., De Iuliis, G.N., Baker, M.A. (2012). Direct Methods for the Detection of Reactive Oxygen Species in Human Semen Samples. In: Agarwal, A., Aitken, R., Alvarez, J. (eds) Studies on Men's Health and Fertility. Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-776-7_14

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