Abstract: Objective To analyze the relationship between human epididymis protein 4(HE4)content in seminal plasma and male infertility. Methods According to the WHO diagnostic standard, we collected semen from 231 infertile patients and divided them into 5 groups: azoospermia group(n=45), oligozoospermia group(n=43), asthenozoospermia group(n=41), teratozoospermia group(n=45)and normal group(n=57). Another 40 controls who had normal fertility was enrolled as the control group. The sperm density, total sperm count, sperm motility, forward movement, and sperm morphology were analyzed with computer-aided sperm analysis(CASA). The HE4 content was detected with electrochemical luminescence. Then the correlation between routine sperm parameters and HE4 content was analyzed. Results The average HE4 content in 271 cases of seminal plasma was(793.4±362)pmol/L. The HE4 content in the azoospermia, oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, and teratozoospermia groups was(987.43±386.75),(857.12±355.64),(807.72±375.21)and(837.04±371.36 )pmol/L, respectively, which was higher than that of the normal group(604.45±272.02 )pmol/L, P=0.000, 0.001, 0.009, 0.002, respectively). The sperm density, motility and PR in the azoospermia, oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, and teratozoospermia groups were significantly lower than in the normal fertility group(P=0.000). The HE4 content in seminal plasma was negatively correlated with sperm density, total sperm count, sperm motility, PR and normal morphology(r=-0.371、-0.348、 山 东 大 学 学 报 (医 学 版)54卷5期 -席向红,等.精浆中人附睾蛋白4与男性不育症的相关性 \= - 0.284、-0.240、-0.158). Conclusion The HE4 content in seminal plasma was negatively correlated with the routine sperm parameters, indicating that it can serve as a reference index of male fertility.

Key words: Infertility, Routine sperm parameters, Sperm plasma, Human epididymis protein 4