Clinical immunology
Interleukin 1β and interleukin 18 and their connection with leukocytospermia in human semen

Inflammation of male accessory glands constitutes one of the causes of infertility and in the same time there is no accurate method to diagnose a silent inflammation. The study was aimed in the evaluation of the levels of interleukins (IL-1β) and (IL-18) in the seminal plasma and their significance in the diagnostics of semen pathology. 107 men diagnosed in the Andrology Outpatient were included in the study. Patients were divided in the 4 subgroups according to the semen parameters (normospermia, asthenoteratozoospermia, oligoasthenoteratozoospermia, and azoospermia). Next they were divided according to the incidence of leukocytospermia. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines were measured in the seminal plasma with the ELISA method. The significant correlation between IL-1β and IL-18 and the rate of abnormal spermatozoa was observed in the oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. The increased levels of IL-1β and IL-18 were found in patients with an elevated leukocyte count in the semen. In addition, the levels of IL-1β and IL-18 were shown to correlate with the number of leukocytes in semen. Our results suggest the role of IL-1β and IL-18 in the genesis of semen pathology that might be responsible for defects of spermiogenesis manifested with impaired morphology of spermatozoa. Moreover, it seems that the increased levels of IL-1β and IL-18 might be indicators of leukocytospermia and can be useful in diagnostics of male accessory gland inflammation.